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THE 

HISTORY 

OF    NATIONS 

THE   FRENCH' 
REVOLUTION 


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THE  HISTORY  OF  NATIONS 

HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,Ph.D.,LLD.  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 


THE  FRENCH 
REVOLUTION 

from  1789  toi815 

by 
FRANCOIS  AUGUSTS  MIGNET 

Member  of  the  French  Academy 

Edited  with  additional  chapter  on  the 

Hundred  Days 
by 
JAMES  WESTFALL  THOMPSON,Ph.D. 

Professor  ot  History 
University  of  Chic  ago 


Volume      X 


Illustrated 


The  H  .W.  Snow  and  Son  Company 

C  h  i   c    a    ^    o 


Copyright,  TOOT,  by 
JOHN  D.  Al ORRIS  &  COMPANY 

Copyright,  1910 
THE  H.  W.  SNOW  &  SON  CO^IPANY 


THE   HISTORY   OF  NATIONS 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,  PLD.,  L.L.D. 

Associate  Editors  and  Authors 


ARCHIBALD  HENRY  SAYCE,  LL.D., 

Professor     of     Assyriology,     Oxford     Uni- 
versity 


SIR  ROBERT  K.  DOUGLAS, 

Professor  of  Chinese.  King's  College,  Lon- 
don 


CHRISTOPHER  JOHNSTON,  M.D.,  Ph.D., 

Associate  Professor  of  Oriental  History  and 
Archaeology,  Johns  Hopkins  University 


C.  W.  C.  OMAN,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  History,  Oxford  University 


JEREMIAH  WHIPPLE  JENKS,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  of   Political   Economy  and   Pol- 
itics, Cornell  University 


KANICHI  ASAKAWA,  Ph.D., 

Instructor    in    the    History    of    Japanese 
Civilization,  Yale  University 


THEODOR  MOMMSEN, 

Late   Professor  of   Ancient    History.    Uni- 
versity of  Berlin 


ARTHUR  C.  HOWLAND,  Ph.D., 

Department  of  History,  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania 


WILFRED  HAROLD  MUNRO,  Ph.D., 

Professor    of    European    History,    Brown 

University 


G.  MERCER  ADAM, 

Historian  and  Editor 


FRED  MORROW  FLING,  Ph.D.. 

Professor  of  European  History,  University 
of  Nebraska 


CHARLES  MERIVALE.  LL.D., 

Late   Dean  of   Ely,    formerly   Lecturer  in        FRANCOIS  AUGUSTE  MARIE  MIGNET. 


History,  Cambridge  University 


Late  Member  of  the  French  Academy 


J.  HIGGINSON  CABOT,  Ph.D., 

Department  of    History,  Wellesley  College 


JAMES  WESTFALL  THOMPSON,  Ph.D., 

Department     of     History,     University     of 
Chicago 


SIR  WILLIAM  W.  HUNTER,  F.R.S., 

Late  Director-General  of  Statistics  in  India 


SAMUEL  RAWSON  GARDINER,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  Modern   History,    King's  Col- 
lege. London 


GEORGE  M.  DUTCHER,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of  History,  Wesleyan   University 


R.  W.  JOYCE,  LL.D., 

Commissioner   for    the    Publication   of   thf 
Ancient  Laws  of  Ireland 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS  AND   AUTHORS-Continued 


JUSTIN  McCarthy,  ll.d.. 

Author  and  Historian 


PAUL  LOUIS  LEGER, 

Professor  of  the  Slav  Languages,  College 
de  France 


AUGUSTUS  HUNT  SHEARER.  Ph.D.. 

Instructor    in     History.     Trinity    College.        WILLIAM  E.  LINGLEBACH,  Ph.D.. 

Hartford  Assistant  Professor  of  European   History, 

University  of  Pennsylvania 

W.  HAROLD  CLAFLIN,  B.A., 

Department    of    History,     Harvard     Uni-        BAYARD  TAYLOR. 


versity 


Former  United  States  Minister  to  Germany 


CHARLES  DANDLIKER,  LL.D., 

President  of  Zurich  University 


SIDNEY  B.  FAY.  Ph.D., 

Professor  of   History,    Dartmouth   College 


ELBERT  JAY  BENTON,  Ph.D., 

Department  of  History,   Western  Reserve 
University 


SIR  EDWARD  S.  CREASY. 

Late  Professor  of  History,  University  Col- 
lege, London 


ARCHIBALD  CARY  COOLIDGE,  Ph.D., 

Assistant    Professor   of    History,    Harvard 
University 


WILLIAM  RICHARD  MORFILL,  M.A.. 

Professor   of   Russian   and   other  Slavonic 
Languages,  Oxford  University 

CHARLES  EDMUND  FRYER,  Ph.D.. 

Department  of  History,   McGili  University 

E.  C.  OTTE, 

Specialist  on  Scandinavian  History 


J.  SCOTT  KELTIE,  LL.D., 

President  Royal  Geographical  Society 


ALBERT  GALLOWAY  KELLER.  Ph.D.. 

Assistant   Professor  of  the  Science  of  So- 
ciety, Yale  University 


EDWARD  JAMES  PAYNE.  M.A., 

Fellow  of  University  College,  Oxford 


PHILIP  PATTERSON  WELLS.  Ph.D., 

Lecturer  in   History  and  Librarian  of  the 
Law  School,  Yale  University 


FREDERICK  ALBION  OBER, 

Historian,  Author  and  Traveler 


JAMES  WILFORD  GARNER,  Ph.D.. 

Professor  of   Political  Science,    University 
of  Illinois 


EDWARD  S.  CORWIN,  Ph.D., 

Instructor     in      History,      Princeton     Uni- 
versity 


JOHN  BACH  McMASTER,  Litt.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  of  History,   University  of  Penn- 
sylvania 


JAMES  LAMONT  PERKINS,  Managing  Editor 


The  editors  and  publishers  desire  to  express  their  appreciation  for  valuable 
advice  and  suggestions  received  from  the  following:  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White. 
LL.D.,  Alfred  Thayer  Mahan,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Hon.  Charles  Emory  Smith, 
LL.D.,  Professor  Edward  Gaylord  Bourne,  Ph.D.,  Charles  F.  Thwing, 
LL.D.,  Dr.  Emil  Reich,  William  Elliot  Griffis,  LL.D.,  Professor  John 
Martin  Vincent,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Melvil  Dewey,  LL.D.,  Alston  Ellis,  LL.D., 
Professor  Charles  H.  McCarthy,  Ph.D.,  Professor  Herman  V.  Ames,  Ph.D., 
Professor  Walter  L.  Fleming,  Ph.D.,  Professor  David  Y.  Thomas,  Ph.D., 
Mr.  Otto  Reich  and  Mr.  O.  M.  Dickerson. 

vii 


PREFACE 

There  are  four  distinct  periods  observable  in  the  histories  of  the 
French  Revolution.  The  first  is  the  epoch  of  contemporary  his- 
tories, hke  that  of  Rabaut  de  St.  Etienne :  "  Histoire  de  la  Revolu- 
tion frangaise,"  which  appeared  in  1792.  Naturally  the  authors  of 
such  works  stood  too  close  to  the  events  whereof  they  wrote  to  be 
able  to  judge  them  properly;  all  were  deeply  imbued  with  the  preju- 
dices of  the  time;  moreover,  their  information  was  necessarily 
limited,  for  this  was  the  age  when  the  documentary  evidence  was 
in  process  of  production.  Then  came  the  period  of  the  First 
Empire  and  the  Restoration  (1804-1824),  in  which  a  flood  of  recol- 
lections, memoirs,  correspondence,  etc.,  appeared.  This  mass  of 
material  paved  the  way  for  the  first  complete  histories  of  the  revo- 
lution. The  first  portions  of  Thiers's  great  work  appeared  in  1823  ; 
the  French  version  of  the  work  here  edited  next  appeared,  and 
the  histories  of  Quinet,  Louis  Blanc,  and  Michelet  followed  in  the 
middle  of  the  century.  But  the  writing  of  each  of  these  his- 
torians was  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  he 
lived.  Louis  Blanc  was  inspired  by  the  socialistic  movements  in 
Europe  which  culminated  in  the  revolution  of  1848;  Quinet  was 
influenced  by  the  national  sentiment  stirring  in  Germany,  and  espe- 
cially Italy,  and  was  romantically  affected.  Such  also  had  been  the 
case  with  Thiers  and  Mignet.  The  prophecy  of  Chateaubriand  had 
been  verified,  at  least  partially,  in  the  case  of  Thiers.  The  genius 
of  Napoleon  had  enthralled  his  imagination ;  he  honored  the  revo- 
lution as  the  mother  and  maker  of  Napoleon,  and  him  he  worshiped. 
With  Alignet  this  was  so  in  a  less  degree.  He  worshiped  the  revo- 
lution;  he  had  neither  in  his  heart  nor  in  his  mind  to  write  much  of 
Bonaparte.  Yet  although  thus  dift'ering  in  the  object  of  their 
admiration,  ]\Iig-net  and  Thiers  were  alike  in  this  respect:  The 
history  of  each  one  of  them  was  aft'ected  by  the  times  in  which  he 
lived.  Each  was  a  liberal  in  politics  and  each  was  hostile  to  the 
narrowness,  the  bigotry,  the  stupidity  of  the  Bourbon  Restoration. 
Each   was   a  journalist  and  actively  interested   in  politics;   "they 


i:  PREFACE 

wrote  the  histoiy  of  the  revolution  to  justify  the  hopes  or  to 
strengthen  the  position  of  the  Liberal  party."  This  attitude  of  mind 
explains  Mignet's  idealization  of  the  French  Revolution,  The 
glamour  of  the  revolution  had  cast  its  spell  over  him,  so  much  so, 
that  despite  his  crisp — almost  cold — precise  style,  he  continually 
warms  to  his  theme.  One  other  peculiarity  may  also  be  noticed  in 
Mignet.  In  spite  of  the  great  change  which  twenty-six  years  of 
revolution  and  of  war  had  wrought  in  Europe,  classic  influences  still 
obtained  in  literature.  The  early  Frank  kings  are  depicted  in  a 
romantic  way,  and  some  of  the  revolutionary  leaders  seem  to  have 
the  pose  of  the  actors  of  a  Greek  tragedy. 

The  manner  of  writing  history  changed  in  the  middle  of  the 
last  century.  The  influence  of  Ranke,  Hausser,  Sybel,  Pertz,  and 
other  German  specialists  not  only  established  new  and  more 
scientific  modes  of  writing  history,  but  also  emancipated  the  his- 
torian from  the  earlier  prejudices.  Each  of  them  might  be  a 
student  of  a  certain  theme,  as  for  example,  the  economic  history  of 
the  revolution  or  its  foreign  politics,  but  no  one  of  them  was  a 
partisan.  The  influence  of  such  men  in  due  time  inspired  the 
greatest  French  historians,  such  as  Mme.  Sorel, — one  of  the  great- 
est historians  of  France,  living  or  dead, — Aulard,  AIortimer-Ter- 
naux,  Wallon,  and  Vandal. 

And  yet,  although  eighty  years  have  elapsed  since  Mignet 
wrote,  despite  the  enormous  mass  of  new  information  which  has 
been  brought  to  liglit  and  in  spite  of  more  scientific  methods,  ''  The 
French  Revolution  "  of  Mignet  has  never  been  surpassed.  The 
late  Charles  Kendall  Adams  wrote  of  it:  "  This  still  continues  to 
be  the  most  satisfactory  short  history  of  the  revolution.  In  style 
it  is  compact,  and  in  method  of  treatment  it  is  clear,  thoughtful, 
and  just.  The  author  believed  in  constitutional  government,  and 
his  reflections  on  the  mistakes  of  the  revolutionists  are  worthy  of 
careful  attention.  Mignet  was  one  of  the  most  conscientious  and 
judicial  of  modern  French  writers."  And  Dr.  Andrew  D.  White, 
than  whom  there  is  no  higher  authority,  says :  ''  Thorough  enough 
for  the  general  student,  thoughtful,  just,  clear  in  style,  compact  in 
matter;  the  best,  by  far,  of  all  the  short  histories." 

The  work  of  the  editor  has  been  twofold :  First,  to  correct 
errors  where  Mignet  has  made  them.  It  is  inevitable  that  in  the 
course  uf  three  generations  of  historical  researcli.  much  new  ma- 
terial unknown  in    ICS24  must  have  been  published  and  the  truth 


PREFACE 


XI 


brought  to  light.  Thanks  to  Mignet's  conscientiousness,  however, 
this  portion  of  the  task  has  been  comparatively  light.  The  heavier, 
yet  the  pleasanter  one,  has  been  the  endeavor  to  bring  the  book  to 
present  day  ideas,  and  this  has  required  the  modification  or  enlarge- 
ment of  many  paragraphs  of  the  original.  Where  deemed  advisable 
for  the  purposes  of  this  book  the  text  has  been  entirely  rewritten,  but 
where  extensive  changes  were  not  necessary  short  notes  have  been 
preferred.  Throughout  references  have  been  made  to  standard  au- 
thorities so  that  the  critical  reader  may  compare  for  himself.  As 
large  an  amount  of  new  information  as  practicable  within  the  com- 
pass of  this  book  has  thus  been  added  and  the  effort  made  to  embody 
the  results  of  even  recent  research.  In  addition  an  introductory 
chapter  on  the  Old  Regime,  a  chapter  upon  the  important  subject  of 
the  finances  of  the  revolution  and  one  upon  the  Hundred  Days, 
have  been  prepared  in  order  to  give  the  treatment  greater  com- 
pleteness. 


(AAJU^iL-^i^yUh 


University  of  Chicago. 


CONTENTS 


PART    I 
FALL   OF   THE   ABSOLUTE    MONARCHY.    1789 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Old  RI^gime             3 

11.  The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution.     1789      .         .  17 
III.  Establishment  of  the   States-General.     May   5- 

AuGUST  4,  1789 41 


PART    II 

THE    NATIONAL    CONSTITUENT   ASSEMBLY.    AUGUST 
4,  1789-SEPTEMBER   30,  1791 

IV.  The    Rise    of    Popular    Government.     August    4- 

OcTOBER  6,  1789       .         .         .         .         .  .79 

V.  Separation  of   National  Parties.      1789-1791  .    loi 

VI.  The  Close  of  the  Assembly.     September  30,  1791  132 

PART    III 

THE    FIRST    REPUBLIC.    OCTOBER    i,  1791- 
JUNE   2,  1793 

VII.  The  National  Legislative  Assembly.     October  i, 

1791-SEPTEMBER  21,  1792  ....    151 

VIII.  Till-:  National  Convention  and  the  Trial  of  Louis 

XVI.     September  21,  1792-jANUARY  21,  1793     .   215 
IX.  Fall  of  the  Girondists.     January  2I-June  2,  1793  239 

PART    IV 

THE   TERROR    AND    THE   REACTION.   JUNE   2, 
1793-OCTOBER   28,  1795 

X.  Beginning  of  the  Terror.    June  2,  1793-ApRiL,  1794  267 
XL  Fall  of  Robespierre.     April  6-July  28,  1794  .   296 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XII.  The  Tiiermidorian  Reaction.     July  28,  1794-MAY 

20,    1795 320 

XIII.  The  Close  of  the  National  Convention.    May  20- 

OcTOBER  26,  1795 341 

PART   V 
THE   DIRECTORY.    OCTOBER   26,  1795-NOVEMBER    10,  1799 

XIV.  The  Government  of  the  Directory.     October  26, 

1795-SEPTEMBER  5,  1797  ....   367 

XV.  Fall  of  the  Directory.    September  5,  1797-NovEM- 

I5ER  10,  1799  395 

XVI.  The  Finances  of  the  French  Revolution      .         .  418 

PART   VI 

THE   EPOCH    OF    NAPOLEON.    NOVEMBER    10, 
1799-JUNE    18,  181S 

XVII.  Nafoleon  and  the  Consulate.    Noveaiber  10,  1799- 

December  2,  1804  .         .         .         .         .431 

XVIII.  The  Empire.     1804-1814  .....  461 

XIX.  The  Hundred  Days.     March-June,  1815  .  .  498 

Bibliography  .........   507 

Index  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         '513 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


1807."     Napoleon  at  Friedland  (Photogravure) 


Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

.     14 


Jean  Jacques  Rousseau o        . 

Louis  XVI  1 

Marie  Antoinette      j  '         ' 

Camille  Desmoulins  in  the  Garden  oe  the  Pauais  Royal  56 

In  the  Lowest  Dungeon  of  the  Bastile        ....  66 

Mob    Escorting   Louis   XVI   and    Marie    Antoinette    back 

to  Paris 96 

Louis   XVI  and   Marie   Antoinette  during  the   Storming 

OF  the  Tuileries          ....00..  194 

Maximilien  Marie  Isidore  Robespierre           ....  218 

Last  Interview  of  Louis  and  Family     .....  236 

The  Last  Supper  of  the  Girondists        .....  264 

Charlotte  Corday  Assassinates  Marat            ....  268 

Marie  Antoinette  on  the  Way  to  Her  Execution      .         .  278 

Anno  1793 286 

Calling  the  Roll  of  the  Victims  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  298 

The  Wounded  Robespierre  in  the  Hall  of  the  Convention  318 

The  Revolution  in  the  Vendee 350 

Napoleon  Crossing  the  Saint  P)Ernard           ....  438 

Josephine,  Empress  of  the  French         .....  480 


TEXT  MAPS 


Ancient  Provinces  of  France 
Paris 


Historic  Places  of  the  Ri:volutionary  Epoch 
The  Vexdean  Insurrection      .... 
Campaigns  in  Italy.     1794-1800 
France  at  the  Height  of  Napoleon's  Power 

Campaigns  of  1813-1815 

Europe.     181 5 


PAGE 

6 
103 
211 

344 
382 
468 
489 
500 


PART  I 

FALL  OF  THE  ABSOLUTE  MONARCHY 

1789 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

Chapter  I 

THE    OLD    REGIME 

THE  French  Revolution  was  the  last  of  those  profound 
movements  which,  with  the  Renaissance  and  the  Refor- 
mation, have  formed  modern  history.  As  the  Renais- 
sance had  been  a  movement  for  liberal  knowledge,  as  the  Reforma- 
tion had  liberalized  religion,  so  the  French  Revolution  liberalized 
politics.  It  was  a  supreme  effort  on  the  part  of  France  and  of  all 
Europe  to  overthrow  the  medicTval  structure  of  society  and  to  build 
anew  the  social  and  political  fabric  of  the  state.  It  was  essen- 
tially a  social  revolution,  and  in  this  respect  differs  from  the 
others  in  its  underlying-  causes  as  well  as  in^the  unparalleled  tragic 
grandeur  of  its  course.  From  the  beginning  it  had  a  very  pow- 
erful propagandist  character.  "  The  French  Revolution,"  says 
Tocqueville,  "  acted  with  regard  to  things  of  this  world  precisely 
as  religious  revolutions  have  acted  with  regard  to  things  of  the 
other.  It  dealt  with  the  citizen  in  the  abstract,  independent  of 
])articular  social  organizations,  just  as  religions  deal  with  man- 
kind in  general,  independent  of  time  and  place.  It  inquired 
not  what  were  the  particular  rights  of  French  citizens,  but  what 
were  the  general  rights  and  duties  of  mankind  in  reference  to 
political  concerns."  Although  its  local  character  is  stamped  upon 
it  with  glowing  distinctness,  yet  the  French  Revolution  initiated 
in  Europe  the  revolution  which  the  United  States  had  begun  for 
the  whole  western  civilized  world. 

In  order  to  understand  the  nature  and  the  depth  of  this  great 
"  crisis  of  modern  reconstruction,"  it  is  necessary  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  political  organization  and  social  structure  which  it 
was  the  aim  of  the  French  Revolution  to  change. 

The  constitution  of  France  was  not  written,  but  rested  upon 
tradition.  In  theory  the  authority  of  tlie  king  was  absolute.  In 
fact,   that  authority  was   frequently  traversed  by  feudal   interests, 


4  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

by  tradition,  and  by  conflicting-  precedents.  The  administration 
which  obtained  before  the  revolution  had  acquired  fixity  during 
the  long  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  (1643-1715);  its  institutions  had 
then  been  definitively  formed  and  did  not  vary  from  that  time 
down  to  1789,  save  in  detail. 

The  king  had  the  supreme  political  authority,  which  he  either 
exercised  in  person  or  delegated.  The  royal  prerogative  was 
theoretically  whole  and  complete,  and  every  organ  of  the  govern- 
ment was  auxiliary  to  the  crown  and  was  operative  only  within 
the  discretion  of  the  king.  Li  France  the  councils  had  not  been 
formed,  as  in  England,  by  division  of  duties,  but  had  become  tech- 
nical boards  with  a  less  direct  relation  to  the  administration  than 
the  British  exchequer,  admiralty,  or  treasury.  The  French  par- 
lement,  the  chambre  des  comptes  (chamber  of  accounts),  and  the 
grand  conseil  were  only  in  indirect  connection  with  the  govern- 
ment. The  most  influential  administrative  body  was  the  conseil 
du  roi.  It  had  general  supervision  of  foreign  affairs,  and  from  it 
emanated  the  royal  acts,  ordinances,  edicts,  and  declarations ;  it 
fixed  the  sum  of  the  taxes  to  be  raised  and  distributed  them  among 
the  provinces.  No  budget  existed.  The  taxes  once  levied  con- 
tinued to  be  levied  indefinitely.  This  council  was  formed  of  certain 
persons,  all  chosen  by  the  king  and  removable  by  him  at  pleas- 
ure without  any  formality,  not  even  the  signature  of  the  chancellor. 
The  number  of  members  was  variable,  but  always  very  small.  For 
the  dispatch  of  business,  the  conseil  du  roi  was  divided  into  various 
sections  in  which  the  same  members  were  differently  grouped,  each 
presided  over  by  a  minister.  The  most  important  of  these  were 
those  concerned  with  foreign  affairs, — and  in  which  the  chancellor 
did  not  have  a  seat, — war,  and  finance.  The  three  other  ministers 
were  those  of  marine,  the  interior,  under  the  controleur-general, 
and  the  chancellorship.  These  various  boards  were,  at  least  in 
theory,  directed  by  tlie  king  in  person.  Louis  XV.  for  a  long  time 
left  the  general  direction  to  Cardinal  Fleury.  But  after  his  death 
the  ministers  were  left  without  regular  direction.  The  actual  gov- 
ernment depended  upon  the  influence  which  each  minister  exercised 
over  the  king,  and  the  king  too  often  was  influenced  by  his  mistress 
or  his  confessor. 

Below  the  king's  council  was  the  conseil  d'etat,  formed  of 
members  named  by  the  king,  and  of  maitres  des  requetes.  who  had 
purchased  their  places,  often  for  sums  as  high  as  200,000  livres, 


THEOLDREGIME  6 

and  whose  business  it  was  to  prepare  the  preliminary  work.  This 
body  was  administratively  of  great  importance,  because  the  intend- 
ants  were  generally  taken  from  it.  Some  of  the  legislative  work, 
such  as  the  preparation  of  edicts  and  ordinances,  was  also  in  the 
-care  of  this  body. 

These  two  bodies  were  the  most  important  organizations  of 
the  government.  Their  members  were  recruited  from  the  new 
nobility  which  had  purchased  position  during  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV.  The  king  was  therefore  under  the  combined  influence  of  his 
court,  the  royal  family,  the  reigning  favorite,  and  these  function- 
aries. Instead  of  a  landed  aristocracy,  as  in  England  and  Austria, 
a  bureaucratic  aristocracy  prevailed  in  France. 

In  the  provinces  the  central  government  was  represented  by 
two  species  of  officials,  the  governors,  who  were  drawn  from  the 
old  nobility  and  whose  duty  was  mostly  ceremonial,  and  the  inten- 
dants,  generally  former  maitres  des  requetes,  who  were  sent  into  the 
provinces  and  endowed  with  unlimited  administrative  authority. 
Most  of  the  provinces  were  little  more  than  administrative  sections 
used  by  the  government ;  some  of  them,  however,  called  pays  d'etat, 
enjoyed  special  privileges.  Such  were  Brittany,  Normandy,  Langue- 
doc.  There  was  nothing  the  intendants  did  not  do  or  control.  France 
was  divided  into  thirty-three  administrative  divisions  under  them. 
But  if  the  people  had  learned  to  consider  themselves  impotent,  they 
had  also  learned  to  shift  the  whole  responsibility  on  the  govern- 
ment. And  when  later  the  revolutionary  spirit  burst  forth  it  was 
with  the  cry  "  Down  with  the  intendant !  "  and  the  intendant  was 
the  first  victim  of  the  maddened  populace.  But  the  provinces  and 
the  generalites  of  the  intendants  were  but  two  sorts  of  adminis- 
trative divisions.  We  must  reckon  also  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tions, the  dioceses,  of  which  there  were  135,  besides  thirty- four 
recruiting  areas. 

There  were  only  two  sorts  of  assemblies  in  France  not  di- 
rectly under  the  king.  The  assembly  of  the  clergy  of  France, 
including  only  the  prelates  of  the  ancient  kingdom,  for  the  bishops 
of  the  newly-acquired  provinces  had  no  scats  in  it,  was  convened 
every  five  years  in  order  to  vote  a  gift  of  money,  called  the  don 
gratuit,  to  the  crown.  Aside  from  this,  the  only  other  assembly 
in  any  sense  independent  was  to  be  found  in  certain  of  the  prov- 
inces (pays  d'etat)  wliich  liad  preserved  a  vestige  of  tlieir  old 
feudal  independence  and  in  which  the  local  estates  had  become  a 


6 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


sort  of  fiscal  board.       Properly  speaking,   however,   these  bodies 
were  not  political  in  their  nature. 

There  was  a  third  species  of  organization,  the  courts,  or  par- 
lements,  whose  jurisdiction  was  limited  to  prescribed  regions. 
There  were  fourteen  such  parlements,  the  most  important  being 
that  of  Paris.  It  had  a  grand  chamber,  the  chamber  of  inquests, 
and  the  chamber  of  petitions.  Like  the  council  of  state,  it  was  an 
oligarchy  of  families  who  perpetuated  their  control,  the  members 
of  the  parlement  being  an  hereditary  nobility,  the  noblesse  de  robe. 


3    «    I    TZCKUANO 


X  ;v,  V  X  \^- .,1/ 


5     r      A       I       M 


who  transmitted  the  office  from  father  to  son.  It  was  the  parle- 
ment of  Paris  which,  by  virtue  of  its  position  in  the  kingdom  and 
the  social  prestige  of  its  members,  was  the  most  powerful  indepen- 
dent body  of  the  kingdom.  In  a  state  where  no  power  existed  by 
the  side  of  arbitrary  government,  it  was  the  sole  body  representing 
the  law  and  possessing  the  means  of  publicly  manifesting  its  opin- 
ion. It  was  thus  that  the  parlement  came  to  play  so  prominent  a 
part  immediately  before  the  revolution 

The   administration   of  criminal   justice  was   the  only  public 


THE     OLD     REGIME  7 

department  in  which  the  nobihty  still  had  a  hand.  The  criminal 
law  preserved  most  of  the  horrors  of  mediaeval  criminal  practice. 
The  gallows,  mutilation,  breaking  upon  the  wheel,  etc.,  were  fre- 
quent penalties,  and  the  complexity  of  the  law  was  very  great.  In 
the  civil  law  there  were  no  less  than  384  different  practices.  Other 
institutions  were  as  bad.  The  army  and  the  navy  were  mutinous 
and  badly  cared  for.  The  officers'  places  were  reserved  for  the 
scions  of  noble  families,  and  compulsory  military  service  was 
required  in  the  ranks.  In  order  to  get  a  higher  price  for  the  cap- 
tainships, the  captains  were  allowed  to  appoint  the  inferior  officers, 
from  whom  in  their  turn  they  received  a  remuneration.  In  con- 
sequence, the  number  of  officers  and  under-officers  became  out 
of  all  proportion  to  the  privates.  The  rich  captains  spent  their 
time  at  court  and  proved  novices  at  war.  The  privates  were 
so  badly  fed,  so  badly  clothed,  and  treated  so  like  brutes  that  the 
number  of  deserters  was  calculated  at  16,000. 

The  social  institutions  of  France  were  as  far  from  being 
in  harmony  with  the  new  ideas  as  the  political.  The  nation  was 
divided  into  a  hierarchy  of  unequal  classes.  The  nobility  monopo- 
lized the  high  offices  of  the  government,  and  with  the  clergy  en- 
joyed exemption  from  taxes,  while  the  rich  bourgeoisie  of  the  cities 
controlled  commerce  and  industry.  An  examination  of  the  struc- 
ture of  society  affords  ample  evidence  of  the  unjust  order  of  things 
prevailing  in  France.  The  high  offices  of  the  church  were  closed 
to  men  not  of  noble  birth,  not  legally,  but  in  fact.  The  clergy 
owned  almost  one-half  the  land  of  France,  and  save  the  don  gratuit, 
which  was  a  mere  pittance  when  compared  with  their  incomes, 
enjoyed  exemption  from  taxation.  The  298  members  of  the 
P^enedictine  monastery  of  Cluny  enjoyed  a  revenue  of  1,800,000  ^ 
livres ;  the  Dominicans  of  Toulouse  disposed  of  two  millions; 
Cardinal  Rohan,  the  Bishop  of  Strasburg,  lived  like  a  prince  of 
the  blood,  as  he  could  well  afford  to  on  an  income  of  over  a  mil- 
lion. By  historical  development,  by  moral  authority,  and  veritably 
in  wealth,  the  clerg}^  were  the  first  estate.  As  for  the  nobility 
of  France  in  1789,  that  class  was,  perhaps,  one  three-hundred- 
twenty-fifth  of  the  population ;  yet  they  owned  one-fifth  of  the  land, 
so  that  more  than  one-half  of  France  was  possessed  by  classes 
exempt   from  taxation.     The  nobles  enjoyed   a  large  number  of 

1  The  livre   (approximately  19J  cents)   was  superseded  in  1795  by  the  franc, 
which  has   since  been   the   unit  of  the   French  monetary   system. 


8  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

manorial  privileges,  chief  among  which  were  local  justice,  the  right 
to  exact  forced  service  (corvee)  from  their  dependents,  and  hunt- 
ing rights,  which  were  bitterly  hated  by  the  peasantry.  Except  in 
Brittany,  the  evils  of  absenteeism  everywhere  prevailed. 

The  court  swallowed  up  the  revenues  of  the  nation.  The 
household  of  the  king  comprised  twenty-two  departments,  and 
every  great  noble  attempted  to  imitate  the  life  at  Versailles.  The 
drain  upon  the  people  was  thus  increased.  The  extravagance  of 
the  king  almost  baffles  belief.  The  retinue  of  the  king  in  1770 
numbered  9050  persons,  causing  a  yearly  expense  of  8,000,000 
livres. 

"  The  king  has  some  ninety  gentlemen  to  take  care  of  his 
bedchamber,  nearly  five  hundred  for  his  table,  and  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  to  attend  to  his  horses.  These  offices  about  the 
royal  person  and  household  are  considered  the  most  honorable  in 
the  kingdom,  since  they  are  all  filled  by  nobles  whose  pay  is  high, 
while  their  duties  are  very  light  or  even  nominal.  Besides  the 
household  officers,  the  king  has  his  guards,  French  and  Swiss,  cav- 
alry and  infantry,  more  than  nine  thousand  men,  costing  the 
people  annually  more  than  $1,500,000.  When  the  king  makes  a 
journey,  all  these  people  must  accompany  him,  at  the  expense  of 
the  state.  In  1783  no  less  than  $33,800  was  paid  for  feeding  the 
king's  horses,  and  more  than  $10,000  for  feeding  his  hunting-dogs. 
The  coffee  and  bread  for  each  of  the  ladies  of  the  bedchamber 
costs  $400  a  year.  The  court-kitchen,  according  to  the  printed 
register,  employs  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  cooks,  and  the  total 
number  of  persons  to  be  supported  by  the  king  amounts  to  more 
than  fifteen  thousand." 

The  king  also  gave  many  presents ;  this  was  especially  true  of 
Louis  XV.  Louis  XVI.,  in  1785,  gave  away  more  than  %2y,- 
000,000,  and  Von  Sybel  reckons  that  the  annual  average  given  in 
this  way  would  reach  $20,000,000.  As  for  Louis  XV.,  it  is  known 
that  in  one  year  he  spent  about  $36,000,000  on  his  own  pleasures. 
The  palace  of  Versailles  itself  cost  more  than  $50,000,000,  while 
on  the  bridges,  roads,  public  and  scientific  institutions  not  more 
than  $7,000,000  was  expended. 

Owing  to  the  exemption  of  the  privileged  orders,  the  burden 
upon  the  mass  of  the  nation  became  a  fearful  one.  The  bourgeoisie 
(jf  Paris  and  some  others  of  the  great  cities  grew  rich,  for  the 
monopolies  of  trade,   the  prohibitions   upon   manufacturing,   were 


THEOLDREGIME  9 

manipulated  by  them.  The  guilds,  originally  created  to  emanci- 
pate and  enlarge  trade  and  commerce,  had  now  become  close  cor- 
porations mastered  by  a  few  wealthy  "  bosses."  Like  so  much  else, 
they  too  had  become  poisoned  with  the  virus  of  privilege  and  as- 
serted and  adhered  to  the  doctrine  that  the  right  to  labor  had  to 
be  granted. 

When  we  turn  to  agriculture,  aside  from  the  mediseval  meth- 
ods used,  it  was  crushed  by  the  weight  of  feudal  dues,  the  outworn 
survival  of  mediseval  conditions.  "  A  system  of  tillage  .  .  . 
prevailed  without  industry,  without  science,  and  above  all,  without 
capital."  Quesnay,  in  1750,  estimated  the  uncultivated  land  as 
one-fourth  the  arable  soil  of  France,  and  Young  in  1790  thought 
it  to  be  at  least  one-fifth.  Taine  has  estimated  that,  all  told,  the 
French  peasant  bore  a  tax  of  eighty-one  per  cent.,  and  Von  Sybel 
figuring  on  data  for  the  year  1785,  computes  that  the  nation 
bore  a  tax  of  some  800  millions,  which,  in  terms  of  the  present 
purchasing  power  of  money,  would  to-day  equal  thrice  that  sum. 
Great  as  these  amounts  are,  however,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  inequality,  not  the  weight,  that  was  the 
real  source  of  the  burden.  If  the  nobles  and  clergy  had  paid  in 
proportion  to  their  resources,  instead  of  paying  taxes  upon  con- 
sumption merely,  the  injustice  would  not  have  existed.  But  the 
actual  value  in  figures  does  not  measure  the  extent  of  the  oppres- 
sion suffered,  for  "  taking  all  in  all,"  concludes  Von  Sybel, 
"  France,  under  the  old  monarchy,  was  four  times  as  poor  in  man- 
ufactures, three  times  as  poor  in  agriculture,  and  more  than  three 
times  as  poor  in  commerce." 

The  French  Revolution  came  as  the  protest  against  this  unjust 
political  and  social  regime.  But  the  French  Revolution  was  not  a 
sudden  outburst  of  popular  fury,  however  volcanic  it  may  seem  to 
be  in  certain  of  its  phases.  In  reality  the  revolution  was  preceded 
and  prepared  by  a  series  of  conflicts,  some  knowledge  of  which  is 
necessary  in  order  accurately  to  understand  the  movement.  This 
agitation  may  be  divided  into  three  phases :  ( i )  From  the  death 
of  Louis  XTV.  in  171 5  down  to  1754  the  opposition  was  carried  on 
by  the  parlement  of  Paris  only,  and  the  church  was  the  object  of 
attack:  (2)  from  1754  to  1774  all  the  parlements  of  France  were 
united  in  a  common  agitation  for  better  go\ernment ;  (3)  from 
1774  to  1789  many  attempts  at  reform  were  made.  In  the  first 
period  the  question  turned  upon  tlie  attempt  of  the  clergy,  in  al- 


10  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

liance  with  the  Jesuits,  to  force  upon  the  French  people  the  papal 
bull  which  dealt  with  the  Holy  Sacrament.  The  government  found 
itself  drawn  into  the  conllict,  in  the  sense  that  it  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  clerical  party.  This  is  the  moment  of  the  birth  of  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  people  of  Paris  and  of  the  legist  class  to  the  church  and 
the  absolute  monarchy.  But  the  idea  of  a  revolution  was  yet  vague 
and  intangible.  It  is  not  until  the  second  half  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV.  that  the  conflict  becomes  continuous  and  general.  The  pro- 
vincial parlements  then  also  began  to  attack  the  government,  and 
frequent  demands  were  made  for  reorganization  and  reformation. 
But  the  actions  of  the  parlements  were  continually  ridden  down  by 
the  edicts  of  the  king,  who  naturally  supported  the  royal  preroga- 
tive. Still  the  opposition  gathered  head  and  the  idea  of  revolu- 
tion grew  broader  and  deeper.  This  agitation  had  no  direct  results, 
but  it  familiarized  the  people  with  the  ideas  and  the  formulas  which 
came  to  be  employed  during  the  revolution. 

The  second  phase  of  this  broad  opposition  (1754-1774)  is  nat- 
urally divided  into  three  periods:  (i)  The  conflict  during  the  Seven 
Years'  War  (1756-1763)  :  (2)  the  conflict  over  the  taxes  (1763- 
1767)  ;  (3)  the  conflict  over  the  financial  policy  of  the  Abbe  Terray, 
which  brought  about  some  violent  measures  on  the  part  of  the  crown 
against  the  parlement. 

The  conflict  during  the  Seven  Years'  War  is  distinguished 
from  preceding  conflicts  in  that  it  was  not  local,  but  general,  in  its 
character.  All  the  parlements  took  a  hand  in  it  and  sustained  that 
of  Paris  by  making  similar  remonstrances.  This  cooperation  of  the 
parlements  is  noteworthy;  and  as  this  is  the  first  time  that  we  see 
any  manifestation  of  it,  their  alliance  had  an  important  effect  upon 
the  future. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  the  conflict,  as  said,  was  the  ques- 
tion of  the  sacraments.  The  king's  council  had  been  a  docile  instru- 
ment of  the  Jesuits,  and  on  October  10,  1755,  had  formally  approved 
the  pontifical  action.  Not  so  the  parlement,  which  replied  by  some 
remonstrances  on  November  27,  1755.  It  propounded  a  new 
theory,  based  upon  the  authority  of  the  great  chancellor  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  L'Hopital,  namely,  that  all  the  parlements  of 
France  were  but  a  single  grand  institution,  the  provincial  parle- 
ments being  but  different  classes  of  the  parlement  of  Paris.  This 
thcfjry  was  manifestly  contrary  to  actual  history,  for  the  various 
parlements  had  been  created   in  each  province  even  before  their 


THE     OLD     REGIME*  11 

annexation  to  the  royal  domain.  But  the  idea  flattered  the  pro- 
vincial parlements,  which  were  thus  made  of  equal  rank  with  that 
of  Paris.  In  consequence  the  parliamentary  party  solidly  united  in 
a  common  resistance.  A  long  series  of  remonstrances  followed. 
The  government,  in  order  to  suppress  the  opposition,  reverted  to  a 
process  already  applied  in  1732.  The  declaration  of  the  king  was 
read  in  a  bed  of  justice^  on  December  10,  1756.  The  parlement 
repudiated  the  act,  but  the  chamber  of  inquests  and  the  chamber 
of  petitions  yielded.  The  influence  of  Madame  de  Pompadour,  and 
still  more,  the  dismissal  of  the  elder  Maupeou,  effected  a  temporary 
reconciliation.  The  exiled  members  of  the  parlement  were  per- 
mitted to  return  on  condition  of  keeping  silent. 

Within  a  year,  however,  opposition  broke  out  anew  (1759- 
1761).  This  time  a  provincial  parlement  was  the  offender.  The 
intendant  of  Franche-Comte,  who  had  been  named  first  president  of 
the  parlement  of  Besangon,  encountered  a  storm  of  opposition  from 
the  members  of  the  parlement  with  reference  to  the  don  gratuit,  the 
quinquennial  gift  in  money  made  by  the  church  to  the  king.  Vio- 
lence resulted,  and  some  thirty  of  the  members  were  exiled.  There- 
upon the  parlement  of  Paris  protested  that  the  king's  use  of  lettres 
de  cachet  was  an  excess  of  his  prerogative.  The  government  reas- 
serted the  absolute  authority  of  the  king,  though  it  prudently 
yielded  the  point  immediately  in  controversy,  owing  to  anxiety  with 
reference  to  the  v»ar,  and  the  exiled  councilors  of  Besanqon  were 
recalled. 

Peace  again  was  of  short  duration.  The  second  period  of 
the  conflict  (1763-1767)  began  when  the  government  resorted  to  a 
new  species  of  taxes.  Almost  all  the  parlements  refused  to  register 
the  edicts.  The  most  daring  of  them  was  that  of  Rouen.  It  called 
upon  the  government  to  justify  the  new  taxes  by  gi\ing  to  the 
public  an  honest  statement  of  the  finances.  The  parlement  of  Paris 
seconded  the  demand.  It  reasserted  the  theory  of  free  verification 
and  asserted  the  right  of  a  supervisory  control  over  the  budget  of 
the  government.     The  crown  had  to  resort  to  force,  and  the  edicts 

-The  lit  dc  justice  (bed  of  justice)  was  a  sitting  of  tlie  parlement  of  Paris 
at  which  the  king  was  present  on  the  wool  sack,  hence  the  name.  The  parle- 
ment enjoyed  the  privilege,  sanctihed  by  tradition,  to  register  all  roval  edicts. 
It  sometimes  abused  the  privilege  to  coml)at  the  monarchy  by  refusing  assent, 
and  tiuis  compel  the  king  either  to  withdraw  or  amend  an  ordinance.  The 
king  could  only  overcome  the  veto  by  a  personal  sitting  and  ordering  registra- 
tion. Notable  instances  of  opposition  by  the  parlement  arc  during  the  Fronde, 
in   1771   and  in  1787. 


12  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

were  registered  with  an  array  of  soldiers  in  the  chamber.  By  this 
time  the  idea  of  revokition  was  everywhere,  and  Voltaire  and  Lord 
Chesterfield  both  anticipated  it. 

Hitherto  the  government  had  always  respected  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  parlements  over  their  seats,  but  Maupeou,  who  had  become 
vice-chancellor,  adopted  a  new  policy  with  those  of  Rennes  and  Pau. 
Some  members  having  handed  in  their  resignations,  the  govern- 
ment assumed  charge  of  the  vacant  seats  and  appointed  new 
members  whose  docility  to  the  crown  was  assured.  Again  the  par- 
lement  remonstrated.  On  March  3,  1776,  the  king  read  a  declara- 
tion affirming  the  royal  theory.  He  denied  the  solidarity  of  the 
parlements  or  that  there  was  any  constructive  force  in  the  par- 
lement's  privilege  of  confirmation,  declaring  that  the  parlement 
was  but  an  instrument  of  publication.  Legally  the  king  was  per- 
fectly correct,  for  the  crown  was  the  fountain  of  both  law  and 
justice.  But  the  theory  and  the  fact  were  widely  separated  the  one 
from  the  other. 

For  a  time  the  storm  blew  over,  but  in  1769  broke  out  anew 
when  the  Abbe  Terray,  a  creature  of  the  king's  mistress,  w-as 
controleur-general  of  finances.  This  minister  introduced  some  new 
financial  measures,  not  the  least  of  which  w^as  an  arbitrary  reduc- 
tion of  the  interest  on  the  government's  bonds.  Open  opposition 
ensued,  and  the  Chancellor  Maupeou  resorted  to  drastic  measures. 
On  the  night  of  January  19,  1771,  the  members  of  the  parlement 
were  arrested  in  their  beds  by  the  soldiery.  Under  this  pressure 
forty  approved  the  edict.  The  rest  refused  to  yield.  Two  days 
later  the  exile  of  the  parlement  of  Paris  was  decreed,  and  on  April 

13  this  famous  body  was  suppressed  by  royal  ordinance.  Its  func- 
tions passed  over  to  a  superior  council,  permitted  to  render  justice 
and  to  register  ordinances  without  remonstrance.  The  members 
of  this  new  council  were  named  and  appointed  by  the  king.  As 
might  have  been  imagined,  the  provincial  parlements  poured  in 
their  protests  against  this  new  order  of  things.  But  the  govern- 
ment was  angry,  and  some  of  the  provincial  parlements  were 
treated  as  that  of  Paris  had  been.  Their  members  were  either 
exiled  or  dismissed,  and  tlie  vacant  seats  filled  by  new  appointees. 
The  government,  in  theory  and  in  fact  alike,  was  now  absolute,  but 
the  crisis  had  produced  a  profound  moral  impression.  The  spirit 
of  protest  and  of  reform  was  wakened  never  to  perish. 

The  literary  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  much 


THEOLDREGIME  13 

to  do  with  promoting  the  new  spirit,  although  it  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  cause  of  the  revolution  so  much  as  a  symptom  of  it. 
Mignet  makes  a  profound  observation  when  he  says :  "  The  phi- 
losophers of  the  eighteenth  century  succeeded  to  the  litterateurs  of 
the  seventeenth  "  for  the  transition  from  the  classicism  of  the  age 
of  Louis  XIV.  was  characterized  by  the  rise  of  a  generation  of 
writers  keenly  observant  and  mordantly  critical. 

There  were  in  France  two  generations  of  political  theorists: 
one  which  included  Voltaire  (1694-1778)  and  Montesquieu  (1689- 
1755)  ^"  ^he  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century;  the  other,  Rous- 
seau, Diderot,  and  the  materialists,  who  flourished  after  1750.  The 
first  generation  founded  its  theories  upon  observation.  It  was 
the  historical  school,  accepting  the  general  foundations  of  society 
as  it  found  them  and  not  demanding  its  overthrow.  It  regarded  the 
body  of  institutions  as  the  direct  inheritance  of  France  from  the 
past  and  was  willing  to  accept  them  with  all  their  inequalities, 
only  seeking  to  bring  about  a  reform  of  them,  both  in  church  and 
state.  These  two  schools  influenced  the  thought  of  France  in  dif- 
ferent epochs  and  with  different  classes.  The  historic  school,  for 
half  a  century,  held  sway  among  the  cultivated  classes  and  among 
men  of  public  affairs  throughout  all  Europe.  It  was  this  school 
which  initiated  the  movement  of  political  reform  in  Europe  in  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  which  has  come  to  be  known  as 
"  enlightened  despotism." 

Voltaire  and  Montesquieu  were  avowed  disciples  of  the  Eng- 
lish. Until  his  enforced  retirement  to  England  Voltaire  had  been 
wholly  occupied  with  literature.  But  his  three  years  of  exile,  dur- 
ing which  he  learned  the  language  and  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  great  men  of  England,  especially  Bolingbroke,  gave  him  a  new 
point  of  view,  and  his  impressions  of  English  life  and  institutions 
are  to  be  found  expressed  in  the  "  Lettres  Philosophiqucs."  Hence- 
forth Voltaire  was  much  interested  in  social  and  political  questions, 
altliougli  he  wrote  no  systematic  work  upon  tliat  subject.  Montes- 
quieu's first  work  was  the  "  Lettrcs  Pcrsancs,"  which  was  a  satire, 
cameo-like  in  its  detailed  criticism  of  the  French  government. 
After  its  publication  he  also  visited  England,  and  it  is  to  the  in- 
spiration of  this  sojourn  that  his  most  famous  work,  "'  L'csprit  ties 
Lois"  is  due.  Politically  Voltaire  and  Montesquieu  agreed,  be- 
lieving that  the  English  guarantees  for  individual  liberty  should 
be  emulated  in  other  states.     Following:  out  the  theories  of  Locke 


11  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

and  of  Bolingbroke,  Montesquieu  asserted  that  liiDerty  could  not 
exist  except  when  the  different  powers  which  constituted  govern- 
ment were  counterbalanced.  Using  the  English  constitution  as  an 
illustration,  he  established  the  distinction  between  the  functions  of 
government  and  the  separation  of  the  three  powers,  executive,  leg- 
islative, and  judicial,  a  mode  of  interpretation  which  exercised  a 
large  influence  over  the  political  thought  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  is  seen  to-day  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Both 
of  these  eminent  writers  were  in  no  sense  advocates  of  revolution- 
ary dogma.  They  regarded  the  church  and  the  state  as  the  pillars 
of  society,  and  venerated  the  body  of  institutions  which  centuries 
of  historical  revolution  had  created  and  formed. 

Another  class  of  genuine  political  thinkers  remains  to  be  noted 
— the  physiocrats.  In  the  eighteenth  century  a  school  of  political 
economists  came  into  being,  who,  from  the  nature  of  their  teachings, 
W'Cre  called  physiocrats.  Though  the  teaching  of  their  theories 
can  be  traced  back  to  Jean  de  Serres  and  Sully,  it  was  not  until 
Quesnay  appeared  that  their  doctrines  became  broadly  known. 
Quesnay  was  born  in  1694  and  was  educated  as  a  physician.  His 
political  theories  first  found  expression  in  the  famous  "Encyclo- 
pcdie."  The  doctrine  of  the  physiocrats  was  that  agriculture  was 
the  economic  foundation  of  a  perfect  society;  that  it  was  only  ag- 
ricultural nations  that  could  found  durable  empires,  and  they 
quoted  with  approval  the  old  proverb,  "  Poor  peasant,  poor  realm ; 
poor  realm,  poor  king."  Industry  to  them  was  only  a  branch  of 
agriculture,  since  manufacturing  was  dependent  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  the  natural  resources  of  the  country.  Quesnay  distin- 
guished three  classes  in  society :  first,  the  proprietary  class,  that 
had  the  wealth  and  which  claimed  the  exclusive  possession  of  po- 
litical rights;  second,  the  producing  class,  that  is  to  say,  the  culti- 
vators of  the  soil ;  and  third,  the  industrial  and  commercial  class, 
who  politically  were  dependent  upon  the  first,  and  economically 
upon  the  second.  Quesnay  argued  that  the  burden  of  taxation 
should  fall  solely  upon  the  source  of  all  wealth,  namely  the  land, 
and  that  all  other  taxes  were  indirect,  and  he  gave  high  sanction  to 
his  teachings  by  asserting  that  God  had  established  certain  eco- 
nomic laws,  and  that  the  physiocratic  doctrines  were  most  con- 
formable thereto.  The  teachings  of  the  physiocratic  school  had 
a  great  effect  uprjn  Turgot.  But  he  was  a  profounder  student 
than  Quesnay  and  had  better  knowledge  of  the  workings  of  eco- 


JK.A.N     J  A(  (.iCKS    KorS>K.\r 

Ml. 11-11     171J.       Died     i;;^) 

l'aiiitin,i:     hy     Oiioitin     ;/>■     l,i     I'om- 

Mii.U'Hni    of    C'hiintillv 


THEOLDREGIME  15 

nomic  forces  like  production  and  exchange;  his  theories  with 
reference  to  the  division  of  labor  and  the  influence  of  capital  mark 
him  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  political  economists.  Particular 
teaching  aside,  the  general  effect  of  the  economic  thought  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  to  secure  a  wider  liberty  both  for  commerce 
and  for  industry,  not  merely  by  adopting  new  principles  of  action, 
but  by  the  suppression  of  the  old  economic  burdens  inherited  from 
a  feudal  regime,  and  the  abolition  of  protections  and  monopolies. 
In  this  sense,  therefore,  as  standing  for  a  larger  liberty,  the  physio- 
crats were  in  alignment  with  Voltaire  and  Montesquieu. 

The  second  generation  of  political  thinkers  was  made  up,  in  the 
main,  of  pure  theorists  and  doctrinaires.  It  was  a  dogmatic  school 
which  asserted  certain  principles  and  deduced  absolute  regulations 
from  them.  It  was  hostile  to  the  prevailing  social  order  and  wished 
to  return  to  "  a  state  of  nature."  It  wanted  to  uproot  the  oldest 
institutions,  even  proprietorship  and  the  family  relation.  Equality 
was  their  dogma,  and  to  secure  it  they  preached  revolution.  The 
difference  between  these  two  conceptions  is  perhaps  to  be  accounted 
for  in  two  ways.  In  the  first  place,  the  position  and  education  of 
the  leaders  of  the  two  schools  w'ere  different.  Voltaire  and  Mon- 
tesquieu were  men  of  the  upper  class,  used  to  the  prevailing  in- 
equality, while  Rousseau  (1712-1778)  and  Diderot,  on  the  contrary, 
had  been  born  in  a  lower  social  stratum  and  hated  the  social  in- 
equalities and  the  privileges  which  their  class  in  society  had  to 
endure.  Again,  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  above  all  the  men  of 
letters,  being  in  fact  and  by  principle  excluded  from  actual  political 
life,  while  the  tendency  of  the  leading  literary  minds  was  to  make 
politics  a  part  of  their  legitimate  domain,  the  result  of  this  strange 
contrast  between  their  actual  condition  and  their  tendency  led  the 
French  writers  to  believe  those  things  in  politics  which  were  really 
ncjt  so.  The  facts  were  misunderstood,  or  not  understood,  because 
the  people  were  excluded  from  active  political  life,  and  so  they 
substituted  hypotheses  for  facts.  Starting  from  these  hypotheses 
as  if  they  were  facts,  they  went  on  arguing,  and  their  results  were 
mere  philosophical  speculations :  they  had  little  conception  of  the 
great  historical  laws  of  cause  and  effect.  They  proceeded  not  from 
a  historic  basis  of  facts,  but  from  a  condition  that  never  had  ex- 
isted or  could  exist,  and  the  longer  they  pursued  their  speculations, 
the  more  radical  they  became,  for,  not  dealing  with  facts,  they 
had  nothing  to  restrain  them. 


16  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

The  encyclopedists  had  a  common  interest  with  the  follow- 
ers of  Rousseau  in  that  the  teaching  of  both  was  so  critical — even 
destructive,  of  the  existing  state  of  things.  "  France  was  now 
reaping  the  fruit  of  that  .  .  .  negative  bent  of  thought  intro- 
duced by  Locke's  philosophy,  from  the  first  ardently  studied  here, 
with  especial  attention  to  its  materialistic  bearings.  Condillac  set 
aside  reflection  as  a  source  of  ideas,  Helvetius  reduced  virtue  to 
egoistic  hedonism,  La  Mettrie  and  Maupertuis,  the  latter  in  the 
famous  Sysfenie  de  la  Nature,  advanced  a  coarser,  yet  decrying 
belief  in  God,  freedom,  and  a  soul  separable  from  the  body,  as  base- 
less and  mischievous  vagaries.  .  .  .  Yet  the  negative  and  de- 
structive in  this  tendency  stopped  far  short  of  what  might  have 
been  predicted  from  the  execrable  abuses  prevalent  in  both  state 
and  church,  conditions  which  should  temper  our  judgment  even  of 
such  then  existing  skepticism  as  we  cannot  after  all  excuse."  ^ 

To  conclude:  The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  had  closed  with  a 
general  exhaustion  of  France.  Religiously,  skepticism  had  become 
general  among  the  upper  classes  at  the  court  and  at  Paris;  politi- 
cally, economic  unrest  and  social  discontent  were  everywhere.  Just 
a  century  later  than  the  English  people,  the  French  people  were  to 
take  the  exactly  opposite  course  from  that  which  experience  had 
proved  to  be  expedient  in  England.  The  compromise  established 
in  England  between  old  institutions  and  new  ideas  by  the  revolution 
of  1688  could  not  be  produced  in  France.  The  revolution  over- 
threw the  fundamental  condition  of  civilized  political  life,  for  it 
subverted  the  principles  and  practices  prevailing  among  societies 
which  had  existed  since  the  origin  of  the  civilized  world,  and  re- 
placed them  by  a  new  and  opposite  principle.  Listead  of  a  personal 
ruler  exercising  sway  in  the  name  of  a  mystic  principle  of  religious 
sanction,  each  of  these  revolutions  established  a  government  in  the 
name  of  the  people.  But  the  English  Revolution  stopped  short  with 
political  change ;  not  so  the  French  Revolution.  It  is  this  supreme 
fact  which  gives  it  exceptional  importance  in  the  political  history 
of  the  world.     It  was  preeminently  a  social  revolution. 

2  Andrews,  "  Institutes  of  General  History,"  pp.  361-362. 


Chapter   II 

THE    BEGINNING   OF   THE    REVOLUTION.     1789 

I  AM  about  to  take  a  rapid  review  of  the  history  of  the  French 
Revolution,  which  began  the  era  of  new  societies  in  Europe, 
as  the  EngHsh  Revokition  had  begun  the  era  of  new  gov- 
ernments. This  revokition  not  only  modified  the  poHtical  power, 
but  it  entirely  changed  the  internal  existence  of  the  nation.  The 
forms  of  the  society  of  the  Middle  Ages  still  remained.  The  land 
was  divided  into  hostile  provinces,  the  population  into  rival  classes. 
The  nobility  had  lost  all  their  powers,  but  still  retained  all  their 
distinctions :  the  people  had  no  rights,  royalty  no  limits ;  France 
was  in  an  utter  confusion  of  arbitrary  administration,^  of  class 
legislation  and  special  privileges  to  special  bodies.  For  these  abuses 
the  revolution  substituted  a  system  more  comformable  with  justice 
and  better  suited  to  our  times.  It  substituted  law  in  the  place  of 
arbitrary  will,  equality  in  that  of  privilege;  delivered  men  from  the 
distinctions  of  classes,  the  land  from  the  barriers  of  provinces,  trade 
from  the  shackles  of  corporations  and  fellowships,  agriculture  from 
feudal  subjection  and  the  oppression  of  tithes,  property  from  the 
impediment  of  entails,  and  brought  everything  to  the  condition  of 
one  state,  one  system  of  law,  one  people. 

In  order  to  effect  such  mighty  reformation  as  this,  the  revo- 
lution had  many  obstacles  to  overcome,  involving  transient  excesses 
with  durable  benefits.  The  privileged  sought  to  prevent  it,  Europe 
to  subject  it;  and  thus  forced  into  a  struggle,  it  could  not  set 
bounds  to  its  efforts,  or  moderate  its  victory.  Resistance  from 
within  brought  about  the  sovereignty  of  the  multitude,  and  aggres- 
sion from  without,  military  domination.  Yet  the  end  was  attained, 
in  spite  of  anarchy  and  in  spite  of  despotism :  the  old  society  was 
destroyed  during  the  revolution,  and  the  new  one  became  established 
under  the  empire. 

1  In  the  light  of  recent  critical  history  of  the  French  Revolution  this  para- 
graph must  be  considered  as  exaggerated.  It  is  an  error  to  believe  that  "  the 
whole-  system  of  society  and  government  was  so  utterly  bad  that  nothing  short 
of  a  complete  social  upheaval  could  do  any  good  to  France." — Ed. 

17 


18  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1815 

When  a  reform  has  become  necessary,  and  the  moment  for 
accompHshing  it  has  arrived,  nothing  can  prevent  it,  everything 
furthers  it.  Happy  were  it  for  men  could  they  then  come  to  an 
understanding;  would  the  rich  resign  their  superfluity,  and  the 
poor  content  themselves  with  achieving  what  they  really  needed, 
revolutions  would  then  be  quietly  effected,  and  the  historian  would 
have  no  excesses,  no  calamities  to  record ;  he  would  merely  have 
to  display  the  transition  of  humanity  to  a  wiser,  freer,  and  happier 
condition.  But  the  annals  of  nations  have  not  as  yet  presented 
any  instance  of  such  prudent  sacrifices ;  those  wdio  should  have 
made  them  have  refused  to  do  so;  those  who  required  them  have 
forcibly  compelled  them ;  and  good  has  been  brought  about,  like 
evil,  by  the  medium  and  with  all  the  violence  of  usurpation.  As 
yet  there  has  been  no  sovereign  but  force. 

In  reviewing  the  history  of  the  important  period  extending 
from  the  opening  of  the  states-general  to  1814,^  I  propose  to  explain 
the  various  crises  of  the  revolution,  while  I  describe  their  progress. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  through  whose  fault,  after  commencing  under 
such  happy  auspices,  it  so  fearfully  degenerated ;  in  what  w^iy 
it  changed  France  into  a  republic,  and  how  upon  the  ruins  of  the 
republic  it  raised  the  empire. 

The  period  between  1789  and  18 15  has  two  distinct  phases, 
a  destructive  one  and  a  constructive  one.  The  epoch  of  the  revo- 
lution answers  to  the  first;  that  of  the  directory  and  Napoleon  to 
the  second.  Within  the  space  of  barely  a  quarter  of  a  century 
France  experienced  six  successive  forms  of  government  which  it 
will  be  well  to  fix  in  mind:  (i)  States-General  and  National  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  from  May  5  (June  17),  1789,  to  September 
30,  1791  ;  (2)  Legislative  Assembly,  from  October  i,  1791,  to 
September  21,  1792;  (3)  National  Convention,  from  September 
22,  1792,  to  (July  27,  1794,  Ninth  Thermidor)  October  25,  1795; 
Directory,  from  October  26,  1795,  to  November  9,  1799  (Eight- 
eenth Brumaire)  ;  Consulate,  from  November  9,  1799  (December 
25,  1799),  to  May  20,  1804;  First  Empire,  from  May  20,  1804,  to 
(April,  1814)  June  22,  1815.^ 

These  various  phases  w^re  almost  inevitable,  so  irresistible 
was  the  power  of  the  events  which  produced  them.     It  would  pcr- 

2  A  supplemental  chapter  has  been  added  by  the  editor  which  continues  the 
history  through  1815 — the  Waterloo  campaign. 

='  Ploetz,  "  Epitome  of  Universal  History,"  p.  447;  Tocqueville,  '"  Old  Regime," 
introd.  p.  v. 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  19 

481-751 

haps  be  rash  to  affirm  that  by  no  possibility  could  the  face  of  things 
have  been  otherwise;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  revolution,  taking 
its  rise  from  such  causes,  and  employing  and  arousing  such  pas- 
sions, naturally  took  that  course,  and  ended  in  that  result.  Before 
we  enter  upon  its  history,  let  us  see  what  led  to  the  convocation  of 
the  states-general,  which  themselves  brought  on  all  that  followed. 
The  immediate  occasion  of  the  re\olution  was  the  enormous  deficit 
which  threatened  national  bankruptcy.  Had  that  been  provided 
against  by  wise  administrative  reforms,  tb.e  revolution  would  prob- 
ably have  been  averted.  If  Louis  XVL  had  sustained  Turgot, 
his  one  capable  minister,  he  might  have  bridged  the  crisis.'* 

From  its  establishment  the  French  monarchy  had  had  no  set- 
tled form,  no  fixed  and  recognized  public  law.  Under  the  first  races 
the  crown  was  elective,  the  nation  sovereign,  and  the  king  a  mere 
military  chief,  depending  on  the  common  voice  for  all  decisions 
to  be  made,  and  all  the  enterprises  to  be  undertaken.  The  nation 
elected  its  chief,  exercised  the  legislative  power  in  the  Champ  de 
Mars  under  the  presidentship  of  the  king,  and  the  judicial  power 
in  the  courts  under  the  direction  of  one  of  his  officers.*'''  Under 
the  feudal  regime,  this  royal  democracy  gave  way  to  a  royal  aris- 
tocracy. Absolute  power  ascended  higher,  the  nobles  stripped  the 
people  of  it,  as  the  prince  afterward  despoiled  the  nobles.  At  this 
period  the  king  became  an  hereditary  monarch,  not  as  king,  but  as 
individually  possessor  of  a  fief;  the  legislative  authority  over  their 
vast  territories  belonging  to  the  seigneurs,  or  in  the  barons'  parle- 
ments,  and  the  judicial  authority  to  the  vassals  in  the  manorial 
courts.  In  a  word,  power  had  become  more  and  more  concentrated, 
and,  as  it  had  passed  from  the  many  to  the  few,  it  came  at  last 
from  the  few  to  be  invested  in  one  alune.  During  centuries  of 
continuous  efforts,  the  kings  of  France  were  battering  down  tlie 
feudal  edifice,  and  at  length  they  established  themselves  on  its 
ruins,  having  step  by  step  usurped  the  fiefs,  subdued  the  vassals, 
suppressed  the  parlements  of  barons,  annulled  or  subjected  the 
manorial  courts,  assumed  the  legislative  power,  and  effected  that 

^  See  Hale,  "Franklin  in  France,"  vol.  II.  p.  406. 

5  Mignet  is  describing  the  constitution  of  the  primitive  Franks,  rather 
than  that  under  the  first  race  of  kings,  the  Merovingians  (481-751).  Since 
Mignet  wrote,  German  and  French  scholars  have  shown  that  the  Merovingian 
state  was  much  more  feudalized  than  used  to  be  supposed.  The  Champ  de  Mars 
was  the  March-field,  the  annual  spring  meeting  of  all  freeman  capable  of 
bearing  arms. 


20  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1180-1715 

judicial  authority  should  be  exercised  in  their  name,  and  on  their 
behalf,  in  parlements  of  legists.^ 

The  states-general,  which  they  convoked  on  pressing  occasions 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  subsidies,  and  which  were  composed 
of  the  three  orders  of  the  nation,  the  clergy,  the  nobility,  and  the 
third  estate  or  commons,  had  no  regular  existence.  Originated 
while  the  royal  prerogative  was  in  progress,  they  were  at  first  con- 
trolled, and  finally  suppressed  by  it.  The  strongest  and  most 
determined  opposition  the  kings  had  to  encounter  in  their  projects 
of  aggrandizement  proceeded  much  less  from  these  assemblies, 
which  they  authorized  or  annulled  at  pleasure,  than  from  the  nobles 
vindicating  against  them,  first  their  sovereignty,  and  then  their 
political  importance.  From  Philip  Augustus  (i  180-1223)  to  Louis 
XL  (1461-1483)  the  object  of  all  their  efforts  was  to  preserve  their 
own  power;  from  Louis  XL  to  Louis  XIV.  (1643-1715)  to  be- 
come the  ministers  of  that  of  royalty.  The  Fronde  "^  was  the  last 
campaign  of  the  aristocracy.  Under  Louis  XIV.  absolute  mon- 
archy definitively  established  itself,  and  dominated  without  dispute. 

The  government  of  France,  from  Louis  XIV.  to  the  revolu- 
tion, was  still  more  arbitrary  than  despotic ;  for  the  monarchs  had 
much  more  power  than  they  exercised.  The  barriers  that  opposed 
the  encroachments  of  this  immense  authority  were  exceedingly 
feeble.  The  crown  disposed  of  persons  by  lettres  de  cachet,^  of 
property  by  confiscation,  of  the  public  revenue  by  imposts.  Certain 
bodies,  it  is  true,  possessed  means  of  defense,  which  were  termed 

®  Against  the  severity  of  this  arraignment  we  must  weigh  the  fact  that 
the  growth  of  the  king's  prerogative  was  the  surest  remedy  for  the  evils  of 
feudalism.  "  The  absolute  monarchies  of  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  .  .  .  gave  liberty  to  the  common  man  at  the  same  time  that 
they  subjected  the  nobles  to  the  law  of  the  state." — Burgess,  "  Political  Science 
and  Constitutional  Law,"  vol.  I.  p.  56.  Cf.  Von  Ranke,  "  Fraiicosische  Ge- 
schichte,"  vol.  I.  p.  34,  and  his  "  Englisclie  GescJiiclite,"  vol.  I.  p.  97;  Von  Sybel : 
"  Ueber  die  Entzi'ick clung  dcr  absolutcn  Monarcliic  in  Preiissen,"  vol.  III.  p. 
24  ff;  Krone?,  "  Geschichte  Ocstcrreichs,"  vol.  IV.  p.  488. 

■^  The  last  armed  rising  of  the  French  nobility,  during  the  minority  of 
Louis  XIV.,  in  order  to  prevent  the  continual  growth  of  absolutism.  There 
were  two  distinct  movements,  one  in  1649,  the  second,  and  more  formidable 
one,  in  1650.  Spanish  intrigue  was  implicated  in  it.  A  combination  of  the 
two  was  crushed  in  1653.  The  word  Fronde  means  sling.  The  warfare  of  the 
nobles  was  so  nicknamed  in  allusion  to  a  dangerous  game  of  the  gamins  of 
Paris,  which  consisted  in  throwing  each  other  into  the  fosses  of  the  Bastile,  in 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  police  to  prevent  them. 

**  Lettres  de  cachet  were  warrants  of  arbitrary  arrest.  Their  issuance  was 
one  of  the  grievances  of  P"rance  before  1789,  but  they  were  never  issued  in 
blank,  as  sometimes  asserted. 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  21 

1643-1715 

privileges,  but  these  privileges  were  rarely  respected.  The  parle- 
ment  had  that  of  ratifying  or  of  refusing  an  impost,  but  the  king 
could  compel  its  assent,  by  a  bed  of  justice,  and  punish  its  members 
by  exile.  The  nobility  were  exempt  from  taxation;  the  clergy 
were  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  taxing  themselves,  in  the  form  of 
free  gifts ;  some  provinces  enjoyed  the  right  of  compounding  the 
taxes,  and  others  made  the  assessment  themselves.  Such  were  the 
trifling  liberties  of  France,  and  even  these  all  turned  to  the  benefit 
of  the  privileged  classes,  and  to  the  detriment  of  the  people. 

And  this  France,  so  enslaved,  was  moreover  miserably  organ- 
ized ;  the  excesses  of  power  were  still  less  endurable  than  their 
unjust  distribution.  The  nation,  divided  into  three  orders,  which 
subdivided  themselves  into  several  classes,  was  a  prey  to  all  the 
attacks  of  despotism,  and  all  the  evils  of  inequality.  The  nobility 
were  subdivided :  into  courtiers,  living  on  the  favors  of  the  prince, 
that  is  to  say,  on  the  labor  of  the  people,  and  whose  aim  was  gov- 
ernorships of  provinces,  or  elevated  ranks  in  the  army;  ennobled 
parvenus,  who  conducted  the  interior  administration,  and  whose 
object  was  to  obtain  comptrollerships,  and  to  make  the  most  of 
their  place  while  they  held  it,  by  jobbing  of  every  description; 
legists  who  administered  justice,  and  were  alone  competent  to 
perform  its  functions;  and  landed  proprietors  who  oppressed  the 
country  by  the  exercise  of  those  feudal  rights  which  still  survived. 
The  clergy  were  divided  into  two  classes :  the  one  destined  for  the 
bishoprics  and  abbeys,  and  their  rich  revenues ;  the  other  for  the 
apostolic  function,  and  its  poverty  (cures).  The  third  estate, 
ground  down  by  the  court,  humiliated  by  the  nobility,  was  itself 
divided  into  corporations,  which,  in  their  turn,  exercised  upon  each 
other  the  evil  and  the  contempt  they  received  from  the  higher 
classes.  It  possessed  scarcely  a  third  part  of  the  land,  and  this 
was  burdened  with  the  feudal  rents  due  to  the  lords  of  the  manor, 
tithes  to  the  clergy,  and  taxes  to  the  king.  In  compensation  for 
all  these  sacrifices  it  enjoyed  no  political  right,  had  no  share  in  the 
administration,  and  was  admitted  to  no  public  employment. 

Louis  XIV.  wore  out  the  mainspring  of  absolute  monarchy 
by  too  protracted  tension  and  too  violent  use.  Fond  of  sway,  ren- 
dered irritable  by  tlie  vexations  of  his  yoiitli,  he  quelled  all  re- 
sistance, forbade  every  kind  of  opp(~»?ition — -that  of  tlie  aristocracy 
which  manifested  itself  in  revolt;  that  of  the  parlements  displayed 
by  remonstrance :  that  of  the  Protestants,  whose  form  was  a  liberty 


22  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1643-1789 

of  conscience  which  the  church  deemed  heretical,  and  royalty  fac- 
tious. Louis  XIV.  subdued  the  nobles  by  summoning  them  to  his 
court,  where  favors  and  pleasures  were  the  compensation  for  their 
dependence.  Parlement,  till  then  the  instrument  of  the  crown, 
attempted  to  become  its  counterbalance,  and  the  prince  haughtily 
imposed  upon  it  a  silence  and  submission  of  sixty  years'  duration. 
At  length,  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1685)  completed 
this  work  of  despotism.  An  arbitrary  government  not  only  will 
not  endure  resistance,  but  it  demands  that  its  subjects  shall  approve 
and  imitate  it.  After  having  subjected  the  actions  of  men,  it  perse- 
cutes conscience ;  needing  to  be  ever  in  motion,  it  seeks  victims 
when  they  do  not  fall  in  its  way.  The  immense  power  of  Louis 
XIV.  was  exercised,  internally,  against  the  heretics;  externally, 
against  all  Europe.  Oppression  found  ambitious  men  to  counsel 
it,  dragoons  to  serve,  and  success  to  encourage  it;  the  wounds  of 
France  were  hidden  by  laurels,  her  groans  were  drowned  in  songs 
of  victory.  But  at  last  the  men  of  genius  died,  and  the  victories 
ceased,  industry  emigrated,  money  disappeared ;  and  the  fact  be- 
came evident  that  the  very  successes  of  despotism  exhaust  its 
resources,  and  consume  its  future  ere  that  future  has  arrived. 

The  death  of  Louis  XIV.  was  the  signal  for  a  reaction ;  there 
was  a  sudden  transition  from  intolerance  to  incredulity,  from  the 
spirit  of  obedience  to  that  of  discussion.  Under  the  regency  (1715- 
1726)  the  third  estate  acquired  in  importance,  by  their  increasing 
wealth  and  intelligence,  all  that  the  nobility  lost  in  consideration, 
and  the  clergy  in  influence.  Under  Louis  XV.  the  court  prosecuted 
ruinous  wars  attended  with  little  glory,"  and  engaged  in  a  silent 
struggle  with  opinion,  in  an  open  one  with  the  parlement.  Anarchy 
crept  into  its  bosom,  the  government  fell  into  the  hands  of  royal 
mistresses,  power  was  completely  on  the  decline,  and  the  opposition 
daily  made  fresh  progress. 

°  The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  (1740-1748).  France  wasted  blond 
and  treasure  to  no  profit.  In  the  history  of  colonial  America  "  King  George's 
War  ''  is  a  part  of  this  great  conflict. 

The  Seven  Years'  War  C1756-1763),  fought  in  Europe,  America — the 
"  French  and  Indian  War  "'—and  India.  France  lost  to  England  Nova  Scotia, 
Canada,  Cape  Breton,  all  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi,  the  French  West 
Indian  islands  of  St.  ^'incent,  Dominique,  Tobago,  and  Grenada;  to  Spain, 
Louisiana,  v.hich  was  rctroccdcd  to  l'"rance  in  1796  and  sold  by  Napoleon  to  the 
I'nited  States.  As  the  result  of  the  war  in  India  between  France  and  Eng- 
land, British  influence  displaced  that  of  France  among  the  native  princes, 
especially  of  tlie  south. 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  23 

1643-1774 

The  parlements  had  undergone  a  change  of  position  and  of 
system.  Royalty  had  invested  them  with  a  power  which  they  now 
turned  against  it.  No  sooner  had  the  ruin  of  the  aristocracy  been 
accompHshed  by  the  combined  efforts  of  the  parlement  and  of 
royaky  than  the  conquerors  quarreled,  according  to  the  common 
practice  of  allies  after  a  victory.  Royalty  sought  to  destroy  an 
instrument  that  became  dangerous  when  it  ceased  to  be  useful,  and 
the  parlement  sought  to  govern  royalty.  This  struggle,  favorable 
to  the  monarch  under  Louis  XIV.,  of  mixed  reverses  and  success 
under  Louis  XV.,  only  ceased  with  the  revolution.  The  parlement, 
from  its  very  nature,  was  only  called  upon  to  serve  as  an  instrument. 
The  exercise  of  its  prerogative,  and  its  ambition  as  a  body,  leading 
it  to  oppose  itself  to  the  strong  and  support  the  weak,  it  served 
by  turns  the  crown  against  the  aristocracy  and  the  nation  against 
the  crown.  It  was  this  that  made  it  so  popular  under  Louis  XV. 
and  Louis  XVI.,  although  it  only  attacked  the  court  from  a  spirit 
of  rivalry.  Opinion,  without  inquiring  into  its  motives,  applauded 
not  its  ambition,  but  its  resistance,  and  supported  it  because  de- 
fended by  it.  Rendered  daring  by  such  encouragement,  it  became 
formidable  to  authority.  After  annulling  the  will  of  the  most 
imperious  and  best-obeyed  of  monarchs  (Louis  XIV.)  ;  after  pro- 
testing against  the  Seven  Years'  War;  after  obtaining  the  control 
of  financial  operations  and  the  destruction  of  the  Jesuits,  its  re- 
sistance became  so  constant  and  energetic  that  the  court,  meeting 
with  it  in  every  direction,  saw  the  necessity  of  either  submitting  to 
or  subjecting  it.  It  accordingly  carried  into  execution  the  plan  of 
disorganization  proposed  by  the  Chancellor  ]\Iaupeou.  This  daring 
man,  who,  to  enjoy  his  own  expression,  had  offered  rctircr  la 
coiironnc  dc  grcffc,  re])laced  this  hostile  parlement  by  one  devoted 
to  power,  and  subjected  to  a  similar  operation  the  entire  magistracy 
of  France,  vv'ho  were  following  the  example  of  that  of  Paris. 

But  the  time  had  passed  for  coups  d'etat.  The  current  had 
set  in  against  arbitrary  rule  so  decidedly  tliat  the  king  resorted  to 
it  with  doubt  and  hesitation,  and  even  encountered  the  disapproba- 
tion of  his  court.  A  new  power  had  arisen — that  of  opinion ; 
which,  though  not  recognized,  was  not  the  less  influential,  and 
whose  decrees  were  beginning  to  assume  sovereign  authority.  The 
nation,  hitherto  a  nonentity,  gradually  asserted  its  rights,  and  with- 
out sharing  power  inllucnccd  it.  Such  is  the  course  oi  all  rising 
powers ;   they  watch  oxer  it  from  without   before  they  arc  admitted 


24  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1774 

into  the  government;  then,  from  the  right  of  control  they  pass 
to  that  of  cooperation.  The  epoch  at  which  the  third  estate  was 
to  share  the  sway  had  at  last  arrived.  It  had  at  former  periods 
attempted  to  effect  this,  but  in  vain,  because  its  efforts  were  pre- 
mature. It  was  then  but  just  emancipated,  and  possessed  not  that 
which  estabhshes  superiority,  and  leads  to  the  acquisition  of  power ; 
for  right  is  only  obtained  by  might.  Accordingly,  in  insurrections, 
as  in  the  states-general,  it  had  held  but  the  third  rank ;  everything 
was  done  with  its  aid,  but  nothing  for  it.  In  times  of  feudal 
tyranny,  it  had  served  the  kings  against  the  nobles;  when  min- 
isterial and  fiscal  despotism  prevailed  it  assisted  the  nobles  against 
the  kings;  but,  in  the  first  instance,  it  was  nothing  more  than  the 
servant  of  the  crown;  in  the  second,  than  that  of  the  aristocracy. 
The  struggle  took  place  in  a  sphere,  and  on  the  part  of  interests, 
with  which  it  was  reputed  to  have  no  connection.  When  the  nobles 
were  definitively  beaten  in  the  time  of  the  Fronde,  it  laid  down  its 
arms ;   a  clear  proof  how  secondary  was  the  part  it  had  played. 

At  length,  after  a  century  of  absolute  submission,  it  reappeared 
in  the  arena,  but  on  its  own  account.  The  past  cannot  be  recalled ; 
and  it  was  not  more  possible  for  the  nobles  to  rise  from  their  defeat 
than  it  would  now  be  for  absolute  monarchy  to  regain  its  position. 
The  court  was  to  have  another  antagonist,  for  it  must  always  have 
one,  power  never  being  without  a  candidate.  The  third  estate, 
which  increased  daily  in  strength,  w^ealth,  intelligence,  and  union, 
was  destined  to  combat  and  to  displace  it.  The  parlement  did  not 
constitute  a  class,  but  a  body;  and  in  this  new  contest,  while  able 
to  aid  in  the  displacement  of  authority,  it  could  not  secure  it  for 
itself. 

The  court  had  favored  the  progress  of  the  third  estate,  and  had 
contributed  to  the  development  of  one  of  its  chief  means  of  ad- 
vancement, its  intelligence.  The  most  absolute  of  monarchs  aided 
the  movement  of  mind,  and,  without  intending  it,  created  public 
opinion.  By  encouraging  praise  he  prepared  the  way  for  blame; 
for  we  cannot  invite  an  examination  in  our  favor  without  under- 
going one  afterward  to  our  prejudice.  When  the  songs  of  triumph, 
and  gratulation,  and  adulation  were  exhausted,  accusation  began, 
and  the  philosophers  of  the  eighteenth  century  succeeded  to  the 
litterateurs  of  the  seventeenth.  Everything  became  the  object  of 
their  researches  and  reflections;  governments,  religion,  abuses, 
laws.     They  proclaimed  rights,  laid  bare  men's  wants,  denounced 


-I     .    ^'  C 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  25 

1774 

injustice.  A  strong  and  enlightened  public  opinion  was  formed, 
whose  attacks  the  government  underwent  without  venturing  to  at- 
tempt its  suppression.  It  even  converted  those  whom  it  attacked; 
courtiers  submitted  to  its  decisions  from  fashion's  sake,  power 
from  necessity,  and  the  age  of  reform  was  ushered  in  by  the  age  of 
philosophy,  as  the  latter  had  been  by  the  age  of  the  fine  arts. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  France  when  Louis  XVL  ascended 
the  throne  on  May  lo,  1774.  Finances,  whose  deficiencies  neither 
the  restorative  ministry  of  Cardinal  Fleury  ^^  (1726- 1743),  nor  the 
bankrupt  ministry  of  the  Abbe  Terray  ^^  had  been  able  to  make 
good;  authority  disregarded;  intractable  parlements;  an  imperious 
public  opinion — such  were  the  difficulties  which  the  new  reign  in- 
herited from  its  predecessors.  Of  all  princes,  Louis  XVL,  by  his 
tendencies  and  his  virtues,  was  best  suited  to  his  epoch.  The  people 
were  weary  of  arbitrary  rule,  and  he  was  disposed  to  renounce  its 
exercise;  they  were  exasperated  with  the  burdensome  dissolute- 
ness of  the  court  of  Louis  XV. ;  the  morals  of  the  new  king  were 
pure  and  his  wants  few ;  they  demanded  reforms  that  had  become 
indispensable,  and  he  appreciated  the  public  want,  and  made  it  his 
glory  to  satisfy  it.  But  it  was  as  difficult  to  effect  good  as  to  con- 
tinue evil ;  for  it  was  necessary  to  have  sufficient  strength  either 
to  make  the  privileged  classes  submit  to  reform,  or  the  nation  to 
abuses;  and  Louis  XVL  was  neither  a  regenerator  nor  a  despot. 
He  was  deficient  in  that  sovereign  will  which  alone  accomplishes 
great  changes  in  states,  and  which  is  as  essential  to  monarchs  who 
wish  to  limit  their  power  as  to  those  who  seek  to  aggrandize  it. 
Louis  XVL  possessed  a  sound  mind,  a  good  and  upright  heart,  but 
he  was  without  energy  of  character  and  perseverance  in  action.  His 
projects  of  amelioration  met  with  obstacles  which  he  had  not  fore- 
seen, and  which  he  knew  not  how  to  overcome.  He  accordingly 
fell  beneath  his  efforts  to  favor  reform,  as  another  would  have  fallen 

If*  Cardinal  Fleury  was  one  of  the  best  ministers  France  ever  had.  lie 
reorganized  the  currency  and  put  it  on  a  stabler  basis  than  it  had  been  since 
Henry  IV.  (1580-1610)  ;  he  paid  off  the  enormous  debts  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.;  enabled  France  to  recover  from  the  financial  disasters  of  the 
regency,  especially  John  Law's  "Mississippi  Bubble":  and  left  a  surplus  of 
fifteen  millions  in  the  treasury  when  he  died.  Cf.  Perkins,  "  France  imder 
Louis  XIV." 

1^  The  Abbe  Terray  was  controleur-general  during  the  last  years  of  tlie 
reign  of  Louis  XV.  He  forcibly  reduced  the  interest  from  five  per  cent,  to  two 
and  one-half  per  cent,  in  1770.  Voltaire  was  one  of  the  victims  of  this  act. 
He  was  notoriously  corrupt.  Sec  Rocquain,  "  L'Esh'it  rcvohitioiuiaire  avant  la 
Revolution''  pp.  273,  305. 


26  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1774 

in  his  attempt  to  prevent  it.  Up  to  tlie  meeting  of  the  states-general, 
his  reign  was  one  long  and  fruitless  endeavor  at  amelioration. 

In  choosing,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  Maurcpas  as  prime 
minister,  Louis  XVL  eminently  contrihuted  to  the  irresolute  char- 
acter of  his  reign.  Young,  deeply  sensible  of  his  duties  and  of  his 
ov^n  insufficiency,  he  had  recourse  to  the  experience  of  an  old  man 
of  seventy-three,  who  had  lost  the  favor  of  Louis  XV.  by  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  mistresses  of  that  monarch.  In  him  the  king  found  not 
a  statesman,  but  a  mere  courtier,  whose  fatal  influence  extended 
over  the  whole  course  of  his  reign.  Maurepas  had  little  heed  to  the 
welfare  of  France  or  the  glory  of  his  master;  his  sole  care  was 
to  remain  in  favor.  Residing  in  the  palace  at  Versailles,  in  an 
apartment  communicating  with  that  of  the  king,  and  presiding  over 
the  council,  he  rendered  the  mind  of  Louis  XVI.  uncertain,  his 
character  irresolute;  he  accustomed  him  to  half  measures,  to 
changes  of  system,  to  all  the  inconsistencies  of  power,  and  especially 
to  the  necessity  of  doing  everything  by  others,  and  nothing  of 
himself.  Maurepas  had  the  choice  of  the  ministers,  and  these  cul- 
tivated his  good  graces  as  assiduously  as  he  the  king's.  Fearful 
of  endangering  his  position,  he  kept  out  of  the  ministry  men  of 
powerful  connections,  and  appointed  rising  men,  -who  required  his 
support  for  their  own  protection,  and  to  effect  their  reforms.  He 
successively  called  Turgot,  Malesherbes,  and  X'ecker,  to  the  direc- 
tion of  affairs,  who  undertook  to  effect  ameliorations  each  in  that 
department  of  the  government  which  had  been  the  immediate  ob- 
ject of  his  studies. 

Malesherbes,  descended  from  a  family  in  the  law%  inherited 
parliamentary  virtues,  and  not  parliamentary  prejudices.  To  an 
independent  mind  he  united  a  noble  heart.  He  wished  to  give  to 
every  man  his  rights ;  to  the  accused,  the  power  of  being  defended ; 
to  Protestants,  liberty  of  conscience;  to  authors,  the  liberty  of  the 
press ;  to  every  Frenchman,  personal  freedom ;  and  he  proposed 
the  abolition  of  the  torture,  the  reestablishment  of  the  Edict  of 
Xantes,  and  the  suppression  of  lettres  de  cachet  and  of  the  censure. 
Turgot,  of  a  vigorous  and  comprehensive  mind,  and  an  extraordi- 
nary firmness  and  strength  of  character,  attempted  to  realize  still 
more  extensive  projects.  He  joined  Malesherbes,  in  order,  with 
his  assistance,  to  complete  the  establishment  of  a  system  which  was 
to  bring  back  unity  to  the  government  and  equality  to  the  country. 
This  virtuous  citizen  constantly  occupied  himself  with  tlie  ameliora- 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  27 

1774 

tion  of  the  condition  of  the  people;  he  undertook,  alone,  what  the 
revolution  accomplished  at  a  later  period — the  suppression  of  servi- 
tude and  privilege.  He  proposed  to  enfranchise  the  rural  districts 
from  statute  labor,  provinces  from  their  barriers,  commerce  from 
internal  duties,  trade  from  its  shackles,  and  lastly,  to  make  the 
nobility  and  clergy  contribute  to  the  taxes  in  the  same  proportion 
as  the  third  estate. 

Turgot  was  born  in  1727,  of  noble  origin,  and  was  educated  for 
the  church,  actually  becoming  prior  of  St.  Sulpice.  But  being  at- 
tracted to  the  law,  he  resigned  his  living.  He  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Diderot  and  D'Alembert,  and,  having  become  intensely 
interested  in  economic  subjects,  was  asked  to  contribute  to  the 
"  Encyclopedic."  As  a  political  economist  Turgot  belonged  to  the 
physlocratic  school.  In  1761  he  was  appointed  intendant  in  Li- 
mousin, where  he  speedily  applied  his  theories  by  abolishing  the 
corvee  for  public  works  and  breaking  down  the  interior  barriers 
to  trade  and  commerce.  His  reports  to  the  controleur-general,  ad- 
vocating national  reforms,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  govern- 
ment in  a  marked  degree.  He  steadily  refused  promotion  under 
Louis  XV.,  knowing  the  inability  of  anyone  successfull}'  to  combat 
the  court  influences  of  the  king's  declining  years.  But  in  1774, 
when  the  accession  of  Louis  XVI.  was  hailed  as  the  dawn  of  a 
better  day,  he  accepted  the  post  of  controleur-general.  His  financial 
policy  may  be  summarized  under  three  heads  :  ( i )  X'o  state  bank- 
ruptcy, either  admitted  or  veiled;  (2)  no  increase  of  taxes;  (3) 
no  loans  at  high  interest.  He  began  by  assigning  fifteen  millions 
for  pensions.  The  effect  was  magical.  The  rate  of  interest 
dropped  to  four  per  cent.  Credit  revived.  Turgot  was  able  at  once 
to  borrow  sixty  millions  of  Dutch  bankers  and  ten  millions  at 
home,  for  the  purpose  of  redeeming  old  loans  contracted  at  much 
higher  rates.  Then  ensued  a  rapid  series  of  reforms :  the  estab- 
lishment (jf  free  trade  in  grain;  tlie  abolition  of  the  corvee  on 
public  works  throughout  France;  the  suppression  of  the  guilds; 
the  organization  of  a  Bank  of  Discount  to  lend  money  for  tlie 
furtherance  of  manufacturing  and  commerce  at  a  low  rate  of  inter- 
est and  on  long  terms;  finally,  the  prospect  to  all  possessors  of 
pri,)])crtv  of  a  gradually  increasing  share  in  local  administration, 
through  the  cstal)h'slinicnt  of  pro\'incial  assemblies.'" 

1- Sec    Von    Sybcl,    "ili^tory    nf    tlio    l-'rcnch    Revolution."    yo\.    T.    p.    40    tT ; 
Blanqui,   "History   of   Political   Economy,"   cli.   xxxiii. ;    Morlcy,   "  Crictical   Mis- 


28  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1774-1781 

This  great  minister,  of  whom  Maleslierbes  said,  "he  has  the 
head  of  Bacon  and  the  heart  of  L'Hopital,"  wished  by  means  of 
provincial  assembhes  to  accustom  the  nation  to  pubhc  Hfe,  and  pre- 
pare it  for  the  restoration  of  the  states-general  He  would  have 
effected  the  revolution  by  ordinances,  had  he  been  able  to  stand. 
But,  under  the  system  of  special  privileges  and  general  servitude, 
all  projects  for  the  public  good  were  impracticable.  Turgot  dis- 
satisfied the  courtiers  by  his  ameliorations,  displeased  the  parle- 
ment  by  the  abolition  of  statute  labor,  wardenships,  and  internal 
duties,  and  alarmed  the  old  minister  by  the  ascendancy  which  his 
virtue  gave  him  over  Louis  XVL  The  prince  forsook  him,  though 
at  the  same  time  observing  that  Turgot  and  himself  were  the  only 
persons  who  desired  the  welfare  of  the  people :  so  lamentable  is 
the  condition  of  kings ! 

Turgot  was  succeeded  in  1776  in  the  general  control  of  the 
finances  by  Clugny,  formerly  comptroller  of  Saint  Domingo,  who, 
six  months  after,  was  himself  succeeded  by  Necker.  Necker  was 
a  foreigner,  a  Protestant,  a  banker,  and  greater  as  an  adminis- 
trator than  as  a  statesman ;  he  accordingly  conceived  a  plan  for  re- 
forming France,  less  extensive  than  that  of  Turgot,  but  which  he 
executed  with  more  moderation,  and  aided  by  the  times.  Ap- 
pointed minister  in  order  to  find  money  for  the  court,  he  made  use 
of  the  wants  of  the  court  to  procure  liberties  for  the  people.  He 
reestablished  the  finances  by  means  of  order,  and  made  the  prov- 
inces contribute  moderately  to  their  administration.  His  views 
were  wise  and  just ;  they  consisted  in  bringing  the  revenue  to  a 
level  with  the  expenditure,  by  reducing  the  latter;  by  employing 
taxation  in  ordinary  times,  and  loans  when  imperious  circumstances 
rendered  it  necessary  to  tax  the  future  as  well  as  the  present ;  by 
causing  the  taxes  to  be  assessed  by  the  provincial  assemblies,  and  by 
instituting  the  publication  of  accounts,  in  order  to  facilitate  loans. 
This  system  was  founded  on  the  nature  of  loans,  which,  needing 
credit,  require  publicity  of  administration ;  and  on  that  of  taxation, 
which  needing  assent,  requires  also  a  share  in  the  administration. 
Whenever  there  is  a  deficit  and  the  government  makes  applications 
to. meet  it,  if  it  address  itself  to  lenders  it  must  produce  its  balance 

cc'llanies,"  vol.  IT.;  T.owcll,  "  Kvo  of  tlie  Frcncli  Revolution."  Tlie  hc^t  book 
upon  this  entire  administration  is  P^oncicr,  "  Essai  sur  Ic  viiiiisti'rc  Tuj-f^ot." 
Condorcet  wrote  a  life  of  Turgot.  His  "Works,"  with  a  memoir,  have  been 
published  by  Dujiont  de  Nemours. 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  ^9 

1781 

sheet;  if  ii  address  itself  to  the  taxpayers,  it  must  give  them  a 
share  of  the  power.  Thus  loans  led  to  the  production  of  accounts, 
and  taxes  to  the  states-general ;  the  first  placing  authority  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  opinion,  and  the  second  placing  it  under  that 
of  the  people.  But  Necker,  though  less  impatient  for  reform  than 
Turgot,  although  he  desired  to  redeem  abuses  which  his  predecessor 
wished  to  destroy,  was  not  more  fortunate  than  he.  His  economy 
displeased  the  courtiers ;  the  measures  of  the  provincial  assemblies 
incurred  the  disapprobation  of  the  parlements,  which  wished  to 
monopolize  opposition ;  and  the  prime  minister  could  not  forgive 
him  an  appearance  of  credit.  He  was  obliged  to  quit  power  in 
1 78 1,  a  few  months  after  the  publication  of  the  famous  Compte 
Rendu  of  the  finances,  which  suddenly  initiated  France  in  a  knowl- 
edge of  state  matters,  and  rendered  the  return  of  an  absolute  gov- 
ernment impossible. 

Necker  was  not  a  constructive  financier  like  Turgot,  however. 
His  art  consisted  in  managing  to  secure  great  sums  of  money  with- 
out raising  the  taxes,  a  doubtful  benefit  derived  from  his  high  per- 
sonal credit  as  a  private  banker.  He  had  no  new  ideas  to  apply 
and  he  had  little  constructive  ability  as  a  financier.  It  was  largely 
owing  to  this  minister  that  France  aided  the  American  colonies 
against  England.  His  pride  was  hurt  when  doubt  was  expressed 
of  French  ability  to  do  so,  in  the  almost  bankrupt  condition  in 
which  the  government  was.  The  American  Revolution  cost  France 
between  one  thousand  and  twelve  hundred  millions.^-'  The  inevi- 
table consequence  of  such  participation  Necker  could  not  have 
failed  to  foresee.  Yet  he  declared  France  was  able  to  do  so,  and 
this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  in  the  last  five  years  500,000,000  francs 
had  been  added  to  the  old  debt,  with  no  increase  in  taxation ! 
Necker  was  mortgaging  the  future  to  a  terrible  degree. 

The  methods  by  which  he  proposed  to  raise  this  loan  will  give 
us  an  idea  of  the  prevailing  financial  methods  of  the  times.  From 
1730  to  1754  every  treasurer  of  France  had  employed  the  lottery  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  and  Necker  proposed  to  raise  eighty-five 
millions  by  this  means.  Another  method  used  was  the  "  rentes 
viageres,"  a  species  of  annuity.  The  purchaser  of  this  annuity 
miglit  buy  under  any  one  of  four  plans — 10  per  cent,  interest  ceas- 
ing at  death  of  purchaser,  9  per  cent,  payable  to  two  generations,  8.^- 

"  Stoiirm,  "  Les  ii)uinc(\<;  dc  I'aucicnnc  regime  et  de  la  Revolution!'  vol.  II. 
p.  205. 


30  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1774-1781 

per  cent,  to  three  generations,  or  8  per  cent,  to  the  fourth  genera- 
tion, after  which  the  principal  reverted  to  the  state.  This  rate  of 
interest  was  exorbitant.  Of  course  it  decreased  with  the  death  of 
beneficiaries,  but  at  the  rate  mentioned  it  would  consume  the  prin- 
cipal in  thirty-seven  years,  while  the  records  show  that  the  average 
life  of  these  rentes  viageres  was  from  forty  to  forty-five  years.  It 
is  estimated  that  those  negotiated  by  Necker  alone  caused  to  the  state 
a  loss  of  six  millions  a  year,  or,  taking  their  average  length  at  forty 
years,  a  total  of  240  millions.  Necker  also  used  the  credit  of  the 
pays  d'etat,  and  raised  ninety-one  millions  through  them  at  5  per 
cent.  Right  here  comes  a  very  clear  illustration  of  the  condition 
of  state  finances.  Paris  raised  money  on  rentes  viageres  at  7  per 
cent.,  while  the  state  paid  8|  to  10  per  cent.  Another  vicious  method 
of  financiering  employed  by  all  the  controleurs  from  Necker's  time 
on,  was  the  sale  of  the  revenues  at  a  discount  before  they  had  been 
paid.  These  "  anticipations  "  had  increased  until,  in  1787,  they 
reached  the  enormous  amount  of  255  millions. 

But  the  day  came  wdien  Necker's  credit  failed.  No  more  loans 
could  be  made,  and  in  his  dismay  and  alarm — to  save  his  reputation 
as  a  financier — he  published  the  Compte  Rendu — the  Red  Book — in 
1780.  The  receipts  and  the  expenses  of  the  government  were  there 
given  in  detail.  This  was  an  unheard  of  proceeding,  for  hitherto 
absolute  secrecy  had  been  the  policy  of  the  ancient  regime.  But 
Necker  did  not  truthfully  present  the  facts.  The  figures  were  cor- 
rect as  far  as  they  went,  but  the  picture  did  not  represent  the  real 
financial  condition  of  France.  This  was  partly  because  of  the  dex- 
terous way  in  which  the  figures  were  grouped,  partly  because  of 
what  was  omitted  from  the  account.  Of  the  enormous  cost  of 
French  participation  in  America,  he  said  nothing.  The  amounts  due 
from  the  farmers  and  the  clergy  were  put  in  the  credit  column, 
though  many  millions  of  them  had  already  been  advanced  to  the  gov- 
ernment, and  many  were  arrears  of  payment  too  old  ever  to  be  col- 
lected. In  figuring  the  extra  resources  of  the  state,  so  liard  pushed 
was  the  controleur-general  that  he  figured  among  the  outside  re- 
sources the  bail  bonds,  or  security  bonds  of  treasury  employees ! 
By  this  juggling  llie  revenue  for  the  ensuing  year  was  made  to  show 
an  excess  of  10.000,000  over  the  expenditure.  The  actual  situation 
was  that  the  expenses  exceeded  the  revenue  by  219,000,000. 

The  death  of  Maurepas  followed  close  upon  the  retirement  of 
Necker.     The  queen  took  his  place  with  Louis  XVL,  and  inherited 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  31 

1781-1786 

all  his  influence  over  him.  This  good  but  weak  prince  required  to 
be  directed.  His  wife,  young,  beautiful,  active,  and  ambitious, 
gained  great  ascendency  over  him.  Yet,  it  may  be  said,  that  the 
daughter  of  Marie  Therese  resembled  her  mother  too  much  or  too 
little.  She  combined  frivolity  with  domination,  and  disposed  of 
power  only  to  invest  with  it  men  who  caused  her  own  ruin  and  that 
of  the  state.  Maurepas,  mistrusting  court  ministers,  had  always 
chosen  popular  ministers ;  it  is  true  he  did  not  support  them ;  but 
if  good  was  not  brought  about,  at  least  evil  did  not  increase.  After 
his  death,  court  ministers  succeeded  the  popular  ministers,  and  by 
their  faults  rendered  the  crisis  inevitable,  which  others  had  endeav- 
ored to  prevent  by  their  reforms.  This  difference  of  choice  is  very 
remarkable;  this  it  was  which,  by  the  change  of  men,  brought  on 
the  change  in  the  system  of  administration.  The  revolution  dates 
from  this  epoch;  the  abandonment  of  reforms  and  the  return  of 
disorders  hastened  its  approach  and  augmented  its  fury. 

Calonne  was  called  from  an  intendancy  to  the  general  control 
of  the  finances.  Two  successors  had  already  been  given  to  Necker, 
when  application  was  made  to  Calonne  in  1783.  Calonne  was  dar- 
ing, brilliant,  and  eloquent;  he  had  much  readiness  and  a  fertile 
mind.  Either  from  error  or  design  he  adopted  a  system  of  adminis- 
tration directly  opposed  to  that  of  his  predecessor.  Necker  recom- 
mended economy,  Calonne  boasted  of  his  lavish  expenditure. 
Necker  fell  through  courtiers,  Calonne  sought  to  be  upheld  by  them. 
His  sophisms  were  backed  by  his  liberality;  he  convinced  the  queen 
by  fetes,  the  nobles  b}^  pensions ;  he  gave  a  great  circulation  to  the 
finances,  in  order  that  the  extent  and  facility  of  his  operations 
might  excite  confidence  in  the  justness  of  his  views  ;  he  even  deceived 
the  capitalists,  by  first  showing  himself  punctual  in  his  payments. 

l"he  annual  deficit  which  Necker  found  at  30  to  35  millions, 
readied  in  1783  the  sum  of  80  millions,  and  at  the  end  of  Calonne's 
administration  in  1787,  115  millions,  by  his  own  statement,  but 
140  millions  according  to  the  committee  of  notables  appointed  to 
examine  his  accounts.  All  this,  too,  in  time  of  peace,  and  in  spile 
of  the  fact  that  the  revenues  had  been  increased  annually  by  the 
addition  of  almost  53  millicjns  of  new  taxes.  Calonne  began  his 
administration  by  getting  the  king  to  pay  his  debts,  which  amounted 
to  230,000  francs.  He  actually  congratulated  the  state  upon  having 
within  it  so  many  abuses  by  the  abolition  of  which  a  saving  might 
be  made!    The  confidence  of  the  courtiers  in  his  policy,  because  of 


32  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1786-1787 

his  munificence,  was  great.  One  of  them  is  reported  to  have  said : 
"  I  never  doubted  M.  Calonne  could  save  the  state,  but  I  did  not 
think  he  would  be  able  to  do  it  so  quickly."  But  below  his  outward 
frivolity  Calonne  was  a  man  of  some  force.  After  the  great  efforts 
which  had  been  necessary  to  float  a  new  loan  of  80,000,000  francs 
in  December,  1786,  Calonne  submitted  a  comprehensive  reform  to 
the  king,  based  on  the  leading  ideas  of  Turgot,  and  planned  to  put 
a  part  of  the  weight  upon  the  privileged  classes.  He  knew  that  the 
parlement  would  reject  the  reforms  suggested,  and  so  he  resorted  to 
an  assembly  of  notables,  which  met  at  Versailles  on  February  22, 
1787.  Richelieu  had  last  made  use  of  them.  This  assembly  of 
notables  consisted  of  144  members:  7  princes  of  the  blood;  14  of 
the  clergy;  36  of  the  nobility;  12  members  of  the  conseil  du  roi ;  38 
representatives  of  the  noblesse  de  robe;  12  deputies  from  the  pays 
detats;  25  officials  from  the  chief  cities.  In  the  whole  body  there 
were  but  27  representatives  of  the  third  estate. 

The  notables,  chosen  by  the  government  from  the  higher 
classes,  formed  a  ministerial  assembly,  which  had  neither  a  proper 
existence  nor  a  commission.  It  was,  indeed,  to  avoid  parlements 
and  states-general  that  Calonne  addressed  himself  to  a  more  subor- 
dinate assembly,  hoping  to  find  it  more  docile.  But,  composed  of 
privileged  persons,  it  was  little  disposed  to  make  sacrifices.  It 
became  still  less  so  when  it  saw  the  abyss  which  a  devouring  admin- 
istration had  excavated.  It  learned  with  terror  that  the  loans  of  a 
few  years  amounted  to  1646  millions,  and  that  there  was  an  annual 
deficit  in  the  revenue  of  140  millions. 

Calonne  knew  that  there  was  no  hope  of  getting  the  privileged 
classes  to  tax  themselves.  But  to  compass  his  purpose  he  had  cut 
up  the  assembly  into  seven  bureaux,  each  of  w^hich  was  to  deliberate 
and  vote  by  itself.  But  at  the  time  of  the  opening  Calonne  was  ill, 
and  instead  of  meeting  separately,  the  notables  met  together.  The 
opposition  thus  was  able  to  concert  a  programme.  The  assembly 
demanded  a  statement  of  accounts.  Calonne  refused.  He  criti- 
cised Necker's  financial  policy  and  thus  ranged  public  opinion 
against  him. 

The  disclosure  of  the  deficit  was  the  signal  for  Calonne's 
fall.  He  fell,  April  17,  1787,  and  was  succeeded  by  Brienne, 
Archbishop   of    Sens,^"*   his   opponent    in   the   assembly.     Brienne 

1*  Brienne   was   Archbishop   of  Tonloti?e   at   this   time.     He  became    Arch- 
bishop of  Sens  and  was  made  a  cardinal  after  his  resignation,  in  1788. 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  33 

1787 

thought  the  majority  of  the  notables  was  devoted  to  him,  because  it 
had  united  with  him  against  Calonne.  But  the  privileged  classes 
were  not  more  disposed  to  make  sacrifices  to  Brienne  than  to  his 
predecessor;  they  had  seconded  his  attacks,  which  were  to  their 
interest,  and  not  his  ambition,  to  which  they  were  indifferent. 

The  Archbishop  of  Sens,  who  is  censured  for  a  want  of  plan, 
was  in  no  position  to  form  one.  He  was  not  allowed  to  continue 
the  prodigality  of  Calonne;  and  it  was  too  late  to  return  to  the 
retrenchments  of  Necker.  Economy,  which  had  been  a  means  of 
safety  at  a  former  period,  was  no  longer  so  in  this.  Either  taxation 
must  be  had  recourse  to,  and  that  parlement  opposed ;  or  loans,  and 
credit  was  exhausted;  or  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  privileged 
classes,  who  W'ere  unwilling  to  make  them.  Brienne,  to  whom 
office  had  been  the  chief  object  of  life,  who  with  the  difficulties  of 
his  position  combined  slenderness  of  means,  attempted  everything, 
and  succeeded  in  nothing.  His  mind  was  active,  but  it  wanted 
strength ;  and  his  character  rash  without  firmness.  Daring,  pre- 
vious to  action,  but  weak  afterward,  he  ruined  himself  by  his  irreso- 
lution, want  of  foresight,  and  constant  variation  of  means.  There 
remained  only  bad  measures  to  adopt,  but  he  could  not  decide  upon 
one,  and  follow  that  one;  this  was  his  real  error. 

The  assembly  of  notables  was  but  little  submissive  and  very 
parsimonious.  After  having  sanctioned  the  establishment  of  pro- 
vincial assemblies,  a  regulation  of  the  corn  trade,  the  abolition  of 
corvees,  and  a  new  stamp  tax,  it  broke  up  on  j\Iay  25,  1787.  It 
spread  throughout  France  what  it  had  discovered  respecting  the 
necessities  of  the  throne,  the  errors  of  the  ministers,  the  dilapidation 
of  the  court,  and  the  irremediable  miseries  of  the  people.  Brienne, 
deprived  of  this  assistance,  had  recourse  to  taxation,  as  a  resource, 
the  use  of  which  had  for  some  time  been  abandoned.  He  demanded 
the  enrollment  of  various  reforming  edicts  by  the  parlement.  In 
June-July,  1787,  as  follows:  the  edict  for  establishing  free  trade  in 
grain,  on  June  17;  that  for  the  provincial  assemblies  on  June  22; 
the  redemption  of  the  corvee  on  June  27.  The  territorial  subsidies 
act  was  introduced  on  July  16  and  was  forced  through  the  parlement 
in  a  bed  of  justice  on  July  30,  the  parlement  making  the  notable  pro- 
test that  only  the  states-general  could  affirm  a  permanent  tax. 
But  parlement,  which  was  then  in  the  full  vigor  of  its  existence 
and  in  all  the  ardor  of  its  ambition,  and  to  which  the  financial 
embarrassment  of  the  ministry  offered  a  means  of  augmenting  its 


34  THE     FRENCH     K  EVOLUTION 

1787-1788 

power,  refused  the  enrollment.  Banished  to  Troyes  (August),  it 
grew  weary  of  exile,  and  the  minister  recalled  it  on  condition  that 
the  two  edicts  should  be  passed.  But  this  was  only  a  suspension  of 
hostilities;  the  necessities  of  the  crown  soon  rendered  the  struggle 
more  obstinate  and  violent.  The  minister  had  to  make  fresh  appli- 
cations for  money;  his  existence  depended  on  the  issue  of  several 
successive  loans  to  the  amount  of  440  millions.  It  was  necessary  to 
obtain  the  enrollment  of  them.  The  whole  amount  was  not  to  be 
taken  up  at  once,  but  was  to  be  distributed  over  five  years.  It  is  a 
significant  fact  that  Lomenie  de  B-rienne  was  finally  driven  to  the 
issuance  of  paper,  in  part  payment  of  the  interest  and  pensions,  etc., 
due  from  the  state.  The  decree  promulgating  these  bills  insists, 
however,  that  they  are  not  to  be  classed  as  paper  money,  *'  of  which 
the  king,"  says  he,  "  knows  the  inconvenience.  They  are  bills  of 
the  Royal  Treasury."  Brienne's  cautious  utterance  shows  that  the 
memory  of  John  Law's  financial  operations  was  yet  vivid  in  the 
minds  of  the  French  people.  They  soon,  however,  forgot  the  mis- 
fortunes which  they  had  experienced  from  paper  money. 

Brienne,  expecting  opposition  from  the  parlement,  procured 
the  enrollment  of  this  edict,  by  a  "  bed  of  justice,"  and  to  conciliate 
the  magistracy  and  public  opinion,  the  Protestants  were  restored  to 
their  rights  in  the  same  sitting,  and  Louis  XVI.  promised  an  annual 
publication  of  the  state  of  finances,  and  the  convocation  of  the  states- 
general  before  the  end  of  five  years.  But  these  concessions  were 
no  longer  sufficient:  parlement  refused  the  enrollment,  and  rose 
against  the  ministerial  tyranny.  Some  of  its  members,  among 
others  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  were  banished.  Louis  XVI.  had  con- 
verted the  sitting  of  the  parlemenu  into  a  "  royal  session  "  by  allow- 
ing a  free  discussion  of  the  measures.  When  he  finally  ordered  the 
registration  of  the  edict,  the  Duke  of  Orleans  protested  on  the 
ground  that  the  registration  was  illegal.  Alarie  Antoinette  inter- 
ceded for  him  and  he  soon  returned.  Parlement  protested,  by 
a  decree  dated  May  3,  1788,  against  lettres  de  cachet,  and  required 
the  recall  of  its  members.  This  decree  was  annulled  by  the  king, 
and  confirmed  by  parlement.  The  warfare  increased.  The  magis- 
tracy of  Paris  was  supported  by  all  the  magistracy  of  France,  and 
encouraged  by  public  opinion.  It  proclaimed  the  rights  of  the  nation, 
and  its  own  incompetence  in  matters  of  taxation  ;  and,  become  lil)eral 
from  interest,  and  rendered  generous  by  oppression,  it  exclaimed 
against  arbitrary  imprisonment,  and  demanded  regularly  convoked 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  35 

1788 

states-general.  After  tliis  act  of  courage,  it  decreed  the  irremova- 
bility of  its  members,  and  the  incompetence  of  any  who  might  usurp 
their  functions.  This  bold  manifesto  was  followed  by  the  arrest  of 
two  members,  D'Epremesnil  and  Goislard,  by  the  reform  of  the 
body,  and  the  establishment  of  a  plenary  court. 

Brienne  understood  that  the  opposition  of  the  parlement  was 
systematic,  that  it  would  be  renewed  on  every  fresh  demand  for 
subsidies,  or  on  the  authorization  of  every  loan.  Exile  was  but  a 
momentary  remedy,  which  suspended  opposition,  without  destroy- 
ing it.  He  then  projected  the  reduction  of  this  body  to  judicial 
functions,  and  associated  with  himself  Lamoignon,  keeper  of  the 
seals,  for  the  execution  of  this  project.  Lamoignon  was  skilled  in 
coups  d'etat.  He  had  audacity,  and  combined  with  Maupeou's  ener- 
getic determinati(^n  a  greater  degree  of  consideration  and  probity. 
But  he  made  a  mistake  as  to  the  force  of  power,  and  what  it  was 
possible  to  effect  in  his  times.  Maupeou  had  reestablished  parle- 
ment, changing  its  members ;  Lamoignon  wished  to  disorganize  it. 
The  first  of  these  means,  if  it  had  succeeded,  would  only  have  pro- 
duced temporary  repose;  the  second  must  have  produced  a  definitive 
one,  since  it  aimed  at  destroying  the  power,  which  the  other  only 
tried  to  displace ;  but  Maupeou's  reform  did  not  last,  and  that  of 
Lamoignon  could  not  be  efi^ected.  The  execution  of  the  last  was, 
however,  tolerably  well  framed.  All  the  magistracy  of  France 
was  exiled  on  the  same  day,  in  order  that  the  new  judicial  organi- 
zation might  take  place.  The  keeper  of  the  seals  deprived  the  par- 
lement of  Paris  of  its  political  attributes,  to  invest  with  them  a 
plenary  court,  ministerially  composed,  and  reduced  its  judicial  com- 
petence in  favor  of  bailiwicks,  the  jurisdiction  of  which  he  extended. 
Public  opinion  was  indignant;  the  Chatelet  ^^  protested,  the  prov- 
inces rose,  and  the  plenary  court  could  neither  be  formed  nor  act. 
Disturbances  broke  out  in  Dauphine,  Brittany,  Provence,  Flanders, 
Languedoc,  and  Beam ;  the  ministry,  instead  of  the  regular  opposi- 
tion of  parlement,  had  to  encounter  one  much  more  animated  and 
factious.  The  nobility,  the  third  estate,  the  provincial  states,  and 
even  the  clergy,  took  part  in  it.  Brienne,  pressed  for  money,  had 
called  together  an  exlracn^linary  assembly  of  the  clergy,  who  imme- 
diately m:ulc  an  .'uldrcss  to  the  king,  demanding  the  abolition  of  his 

^■"^Tlie  Cliaklet  ^vas  tlie  chief  criminal  court  of  Paris.  Technically,  it  was 
only  the  criminal  court  of  tlie  prevote  of  Paris,  but  the  importance  of  the  cap- 
ital gave  it  prei'-minence.  1  iistnrically  it  was  one  of  the  oldest  institutions  of 
Paris,  some  historians  even  claiming  a  continuity  from  Roman  times. 


36  THE     FRENCHREVOLUTION 

1788 

plenary  court,  and  the  recall  of  the  states-general :  they  alone  could 
thenceforth  repair  the  disordered  state  of  the  finances,  secure  the 
national  debt,  and  terminate  these  disputes  for  power. 

The  Archbishop  of  Sens,  by  his  contest  with  the  parlement, 
had  postponed  the  financial,  by  creating  a  political  difficulty.  The 
moment  the  latter  ceased,  the  former  reappeared,  and  made  his 
retreat  inevitable.  Obtaining  neither  taxes  nor  loans,  unable  to 
make  use  of  the  plenary  court,  and  not  wishing  to  recall  the  parle- 
ments,  Brienne,  as  a  last  resource,  promised  the  convocation  of  the 
states-general.  By  this  means  he  hastened  his  ruin.  He  had  been 
called  to  the  financial  department  in  order  to  remedy  embarrass- 
ments which  he  had  augmented,  and  to  procure  money  which  he  had 
been  unable  to  obtain.  So  far  from  it,  he  had  exasperated  the 
nation,  raised  a  rebellion  in  the  various  bodies  of  the  state,  compro- 
mised the  authority  of  the  government,  and  rendered  inevitable  the 
states-general,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  court,  was  the  worst 
means  of  raising  money.  He  succumbed  on  August  25,  1788.  The 
cause  of  his  fall  was  a  suspension  of  the  payment  of  the  interest  on 
the  debt,  which  w'as  the  commencement  of  bankruptcy.  This  min- 
ister has  been  the  most  blamed  because  he  came  last.  Inheriting  the 
faults,  the  embarrassments  of  past  times,  he  had  to  struggle  with 
the  difficulties  of  his  position  with  inefficient  means.  He  tried 
intrigue  and  oppression ;  he  banished,  suspended,  disorganized  par- 
lement; everything  was  an  obstacle  to  him,  nothing  aided  him. 
After  a  long  struggle  he  sank  under  lassitude  and  weakness ;  I  dare 
not  say  from  incapacity,  for  had  he  been  far  stronger  and  more 
skillful,  had  he  been  a  Richelieu  or  a  Sully,  he  would  still  have 
fallen.  It  no  longer  appertained  to  anyone  arbitrarily  to  raise 
money  or  to  oppress  the  people.  It  must  be  said  in  his  excuse,  that 
he  had  not  created  that  position  from  which  he  was  not  able  to 
extricate  himself;  his  only  mistake  was  his  presumption  in  accepting 
it.  Pie  fell  through  the  fault  of  Calonne,  as  Calonne  had  availed 
himself  of  the  confidence  inspired  by  Necker  for  the  purposes  of 
his  lavish  expenditure.  The  one  had  destroyed  credit,  and  the 
other,  thinking  to  reestablish  it  by  force,  had  destroyed  authority. 

The  states-general  had  become  the  only  means  of  government, 
and  the  last  resource  of  the  throne.  They  had  been  eagerly  de- 
manded by  parlement  and  the  peers  of  the  kingdom,  on  July  13, 
1787;  by  tlie  states  of  Dauphine,  in  the  assembly  of  Vizille;  by  the 
clergy  in  its  assembly  at  Paris.     The  provincial  states  had  prepared 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  37 

1789 

the  public  mind  for  them ;  and  the  notables  were  their  precursors. 
The  king  after  having,  on  December  i8,  1787,  promised  their  con- 
vocation in  five  years,  on  August  8,  1788,  fixed  the  opening  for 
May  I,  1789.  Necker  was  recalled,  parlement  reestablished,  the 
plenary  court  abolished,  the  bailiwicks  destroyed,  and  the  provinces 
satisfied;  and  the  new  minister  prepared  everything  for  the  election 
of  deputies  and  the  holding  of  the  states. 

At  this  epoch  a  great  change  took  place  in  the  opposition, 
which  till  then  had  been  unanimous.  Under  Brienne,  the  ministry 
had  encountered  opposition  from  all  the  various  bodies  of  the  state, 
because  it  had  sought  to  oppress  them.  Under  Necker,  it  met  with 
resistance  from  the  same  bodies,  which  desired  power  for  them- 
selves and  oppression  for  the  people.  From  being  despotic,  it  had 
become  national,  and  it  still  had  them  all  equally  against  it.  Parle- 
ment had  maintained  a  struggle  for  authority,  and  not  for  the  public 
welfare;  and  the  nobility  had  united  with  the  third  estate,  rather 
against  the  government  than  in  favor  of  the  people.  Each  of  these 
bodies  had  demanded  the  states-general :  the  parlement,  in  the  hope 
of  ruling  them  as  it  had  done  in  1614;  and  the  nobility,  in  the  hope 
of  regaining  its  lost  influence.  Accordingly,  the  magistracy  pro- 
posed as  a  model  for  the  states-general  of  1789,  the  form  of  that  of 
1 6 14,  and  public  opinion  abandoned  it.  If  this  recommendation  had 
been  followed,  whole  provinces  would  have  been  in  practice  disfran- 
chised. For  example,  Poitou,  with  694,000  inhabitants,  would  have 
had  no  more  representation  than  Gex,  with  1300;  Vermandois,  with 
774,000  inhabitants,  would  have  had  no  more  than  Dourdan,  with  a 
population  of  7800.^^  The  nobility  refused  its  consent  to  the 
double  representation  of  the  third  estate,  as  in  Languedoc,  Provence, 
Hainault.  In  most  of  them,  however,  as  Brittany,  Artois,  Bur- 
gundy, an  equal  representation  was  the  rule.  Thus  a  division  broke 
out  between  these  two  orders. 

This  double  representation  was  required  by  the  intellect  of  tlie 
age,  the  necessity  of  reform,  and  by  the  importance  which  the  third 
estate  had  acquired.  It  had  already  been  admitted  into  the  pro- 
vincial assemblies.  Brienne,  before  leaving  the  ministry,  had  made 
an  appeal  to  tlie  writers  of  the  day,  in  order  to  know  what  would  be 
the  most  suitable  method  of  composing  and  liolding  the  states- 
general.     Among  the  works  favoraI)]e  to  the  peo])]c  there  appeared 

■""ty.   Stephens.  "  I'Vench  Revolution,"  vol.  I.  pp.    14-15;  "Memoirs  of  Tal- 
leyrand," vol.  I.  pp.  85-86. 


38  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

the  celebrated  pamphlet  of  Sieyes  on  the  third  estate,  and  that  of 
D'Entraigues  on  the  states-general.  Sieyes  asked  these  questions, 
which  he  proceeded  to  answer:  What  is  the  third  estate? 
Everything,  What  has  it  been  thus  far?  Nothing.  What  does 
it  want  to  be?  Something.^''  Opinion  became  daily  more  de- 
cided, and  Necker  wishing,  yet  fearing,  to  satisfy  it,  and  desirous 
of  conciliating  all  orders,  of  obtaining  general  approbation,  con- 
voked a  second  assembly  of  notables  on  November  6,  1788,  to  delib- 
erate on  the  composition  of  the  states-general,  and  the  election  of  its 
members.  He  thought  to  induce  it  to  accept  the  addition  of  the 
third  estate,  but  it  refused,  and  he  was  obliged  to  decide,  in  spite 
of  the  notables,  that  which  he  ought  to  have  decided  without  them. 
Necker  was  not  the  man  to  avoid  disputes  by  removing  all  difficul- 
ties beforehand.  He  did  not  take  the  initiative  as  to  the  representa- 
tion of  the  third  estate,  any  more  than  at  a  later  period  he  took  it 
with  regard  to  the  question  of  voting  by  orders  or  by  poll.  When 
the  states-general  were  assembled  the  solution  of  this  second  ques- 
tion, on  which  depended  the  state  of  power  and  that  of  the  people, 
was  abandoned  to  force. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  Necker,  having  been  unable  to  make  the 
notables  adopt  the  representation  of  the  third  estate,  caused  it  to 
be  adopted  by  the  council.  The  royal  declaration  of  November  27 
decreed  that  the  deputies  in  the  states-general  should  amount  to  at 
least  a  thousand,  and  that  the  deputies  of  the  third  estate  should  be 
equal  in  number  to  the  deputies  of  the  nobility  and  clergy  to- 
gether. Necker,  moreover,  obtained  the  admission  of  the  cures  into 
the  order  of  the  clergy,  and  of  Protestants  into  that  of  the  third 
estate. 

May  I,  1789,  was  the  day  fixed  for  the  convening  of  the  states- 
general.  The  letters  convoking  the  electors  were  sent  out  in  Febru- 
ary, Each  order  named  its  deputies.  With  the  third  estate  every 
Frenchman  of  twenty-five  years  of  age  paying  any  direct  tax  what- 
soever had  the  right  to  vote.  The  form  of  the  elections  was  tlie 
same  as  in  1614.  The  deputies  of  the  three  orders  were  nominated 
from  bailiwicks.  The  clergy  and  the  nobility  named  their  represen- 
tatives directly,  but  with  the  third  estate  indirect  election  prevailed, 
delegates  being  chosen  in  the  parislics  and  villages  to  a  subscf|ucnt 

i'^  The  flood  of  pamphlets  at  this  time  was  enormous.  Gouvorneur  Morris 
writes,  in  June,  1789,  "  ICvcn  lackeys  are  poring  over  them  at  the  gate^  of 
hotels,"  and  Arthur  Young  records  about  tlie  same  time,  "  Thirteen  came  out 
to-day ;  sixteen  yesterday ;  and  ninety  last  week." 


BEGINNING     OF     REVOLUTION  39 

1789 

assembly  held  in  the  chief  place  of  the  bailiwick,  this  body  electing 
the  actual  deputies  to  the  states-general. 

The  local  election  machinery  was  very  various — the  clergy  gen- 
erally elected  out  of  the  chapter,  the  monastic  bodies  from  among 
their  brotherhoods ;  industrial  and  mercantile  interests  were  organ- 
ized into  crafts  or  guilds.  Robespierre  was  elected  by  the  cobblers' 
guild  of  Arras.     About  5,000,000  voters  thus  elected  1139  deputies. 

Parlement  had  but  little  influence  in  the  elections,  and  the 
court  none  at  all.  The  nobility  selected  a  few  popular  deputies,  but 
for  the  most  part  devoted  to  the  interests  of  their  order,  and  as 
much  opposed  to  the  third  estate  as  to  the  oligarchy  of  the  great 
families  of  the  court.  The  clergy  nominated  bishops  and  abbes 
attached  to  privilege,  and  cures  favorable  to  the  popular  cause, 
which  was  their  own ;  lastly,  the  third  estate  selected  men  enlight- 
ened, firm,  and  unanimous  in  their  wishes.  Of  the  285  nobles 
elected,  270  took  their  seats ;  of  the  clergy,  308  were  elected  and 
291  took  their  seats;  of  the  third  estate,  621  were  elected  and  578 
took  their  seats.  The  deputation  of  the  nobility  was  comprised  of 
242  gentlemen  and  28  members  of  parlement ;  that  of  the  clergy, 
of  48  archbishops  or  bishops,  35  abbes  or  deans,  and  208  cures; 
and  that  of  the  communes,  of  2  ecclesiastics,  12  noblemen,  18  magis- 
trates of  towns,  200  county  members,  212  barristers,  16  physicians, 
and  216  merchants  and  agriculturists.  Among  the  nobles  were  the 
king's  two  brothers,  the  Count  of  Provence,  later  Louis  XVIII. 
(1814-1824),  and  the  Count  d'Artois,  afterward  Charles  X.  (1824- 
1830)  ;  Philip,  Duke  of  Orleans;  and  Lafayette.  Talleyrand,  then 
Bishop  of  Autun,  the  Abbe  Maury,  and  "  the  great  Gregoire  "  were 
among  tlie  clergy.  Among  the  deputies  of  the  third  estate,  besides 
12  nobles  and  2  priests,  there  were  13  municipal  magistrates,  102 
magistrates  from  bailiwicks,  216  lawyers,  16  physicians,  and  about 
100  merchants  and  farmers.^**  Conspicuous  among  them  were  Mira- 
beau,  Sieycs,  Robespierre,  Petion,  Bailly,  Barrere,  Malouet,  ]\Iou- 
nier,  Target,  Lameth,  and  Dr.  Guillotin.  The  Paris  deputies  in- 
cluded 9  lawyers,  6  tradesmen,  2  tailors,  i  grocer,  i  painter,  i 
jeweler,  i  wine  merchant.  The  opening  of  the  states-general  was 
fixed  for  ]\lay  5,  1789. 

Thus  was  the  revolution  brought  about.  The  court  in  vain 
tried  to  prevent,  as  it  afterward  endeavored  to  annul  it.     Under  the 

1^  Oil  the   whole  matter  see  Lowell,   "  Eve   of  the  French   Revolution,"   ch. 
xxi. ;  Stephens,  '"  l~rench  Revolution,"  vol.  I.  pp.  30-50. 


40  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

direction  of  Maiirepas  the  king  nominated  popular  ministers  and 
made  attempts  at  reform ;  under  the  influence  of  the  queen  he  nom- 
inated court  ministers  and  made  attempts  at  authority.  Oppression 
met  with  as  Httle  success  as  reform.  After  applying  in  vain  to 
courtiers  for  retrenchments,  to  parlement  for  levies,  to  capitalists 
for  loans,  he  sought  for  new  taxpayers,  and  made  an  appeal  to  the 
privileged  orders.  He  demanded  of  the  notables,  consisting  of  the 
nobles  and  the  clergy,  a  participation  in  the  charges  of  the  state, 
which  they  refused.  He  then  for  the  first  time  applied  to  all  France, 
and  convoked  the  states-general.  He  treated  with  the  various  bodies 
of  the  nation  before  treating  with  the  nation  itself;  and  it  was  only 
on  the  refusal  of  the  first,  that  he  appealed  from  it  to  a  power  whose 
intervention  and  support  he  dreaded.  He  preferred  private  assem- 
blies, which,  being  isolated,  necessarily  remained  secondary  to  a 
general  assembly,  which,  representing  all  interests,  must  combine 
all  powers.  Up  to  this  great  epoch  every  year  saw  the  wants  of  the 
government  increasing,  and  resistance  becoming  more  extensive. 
Opposition  passed  from  parlements  to  the  nobility,  from  the  nobil- 
ity to  the  clergy,  and  from  them  all  to  the  people.  In  proportion  as 
each  participated  in  power  it  began  its  opposition,  until  all  these 
private  oppositions  were  fused  in  or  gave  way  before  the  national 
opposition.  The  states-general  only  decreed  a  revolution  already 
formed. ^'^ 

^^  Gouverneur  Morris,  the  American  patriot,  was  in  Paris  at  this  time 
on  private  business,  and  was  later  made  minister  to  France.  In  the  spring 
of  1789  he  wrote :  "  A  spirit  which  has  lain  dormant  for  generations  starts  up 
and  stares  about,  ignorant  of  the  means  of  obtaining  but  ardently  desirous  to 
possess  the  object;  consequently  active,  energetic,  easily  led,  but  alas!  easily,  too 
easily,  misled."  "  Diary  and  Letters  of  Gouverneur  Morris,"  vol.  I.  p.  21.  And 
later,  on  April  29,  1789,  he  wrote  to  Washington :  "  The  materials  for  a  revolution 
in  this  country  are  very  indifferent.  Everybody  agrees  that  there  is  an  utter 
prostration  of  morals,  but  this  general  position  can  never  convey  to  the  Amer- 
ican mind  the  degree  of  depravity.  It  is  not  by  any  figure  of  rhetoric,  or  force 
of  language,  that  the  idea  can  be  communicated.  An  hundred  anecdotes  and  a 
hundred  thousand  examples  are  required  to  show  the  extreme  rottenness  of 
every  member.  There  are  men  and  women  who  are  greatly  and  eminently  virtu- 
ous— but  they  stand  forward  from  a  background  deeply  and  darkly  shaded. 
It  is,  however,  from  such  crumbling  matter  that  the  great  edifice  of  freedom 
is  to  be  erected  here.  Perhaps  it  may  harden  when  exposed  to  the  air,  but 
it  seems  quite  as  likely  that  it  will  fall  and  crush  the  building."  Ibid.,  vol.  I. 
pp.  68-69. 


Chapter    III 

ESTABLISHMENT   OF   THE    STATES-GENERAL 
MAY   5-AUGUST   4,    1789 

MAY  5,  1789,  was  fixed  for  the  opening  of  the  states- 
general.  A  rehgious  ceremony  preceded  their  installa- 
tion. The  King,  his  family,  his  ministers,  the  deputies 
of  the  three  orders,  on  May  4  went  in  procession  from  the 
church  of  Notre-Dame  to  that  of  Saint  Louis,  to  hear  the  opening 
mass.  Lavarre,  Bishop  of  Nancy,  preached  the  sermon,  which  was 
much  like  a  political  harangue.  In  his  prayer,  he  said :  "  Accept  the 
homage  of  the  clergy,  the  respect  of  the  nobility,  and  the  very  hum- 
ble requests  of  the  third  estate."  Alen  did  not  without  enthusiasm 
see  the  return  of  a  national  ceremony  of  which  France  had  for  so 
long  a  period  been  deprived.  It  had  all  the  appearance  of  a  festival. 
An  enormous  multitude  flocked  from  all  parts  to  Versailles ;  the 
weather  was  splendid ;  they  had  been  lavish  of  the  pomp  of  decora- 
tion. The  excitement  of  the  music,  the  kind  and  satisfied  expression 
of  the  king,  the  beauty  and  demeanor  of  the  queen,  and,  as  much  as 
anything,  the  general  hope,  exalted  everyone.  But  the  etiquette, 
costumes,  and  order  of  the  ranks  of  the  states  in  1614  were  seen 
with  regret.  The  clergy,  in  cassocks,  large  cloaks,  and  square  caps, 
or  in  violet  robes  and  lawn  sleeves,  occupied  the  first  place.  Then 
came  the  nobles,  attired  in  black  coats  with  waistcoats  and  facings 
of  cloth  of  gold,  lace  cravats,  and  hats  with  white  plumes,  turned 
up  in  the  fashion  of  Henry  IV.  The  modest  third  estate  came  last, 
clothed  in  black,  with  short  cloaks,  muslin  cravats,  and  hats  without 
feathers  or  loops.  In  the  church  the  same  distinction  as  to  places 
existed  between  the  three  orders. 

The  royal  sittings  took  place  the  following  day  in  the  Salle 
des  ATenus.  Galleries,  arranged  in  the  form  of  an  amphitheater,  were 
filled  with  spectators.  The  deputies  were  summoned  and  introduced 
according  to  the  order  established  in  1614.  The  clergy  were  con- 
ducted to  the  right,  the  nobility  to  the  left,  and  the  commons  in 
front  of  the  throne  at  the  end  of  the  hall.     The  deputation  from 

41 


42  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

Dauphine,  from  Crespy,  in  Valois,  to  which  the  Duke  of  Orleans 
belonged,  and  from  Provence,  were  received  with  loud  applause. 
Necker  was  also  received  on  his  entrance  with  general  enthusiasm. 
Public  favor  was  testified  toward  all  who  had  contributed  to  the 
convocation  of  the  states-general.  When  the  deputies  and  ministers 
had  taken  their  places  the  king  appeared,  followed  by  the  queen, 
the  princes,  and  a  brilliant  suite.  The  salle  resounded  with  applause 
on  his  arrival.  When  he  came  in,  Louis  XVL  took  his  seat  on  the 
throne,  and  when  he  had  put  on  his  hat,  the  three  orders  covered 
themselves  at  the  same  time.  The  commons,  contrary  to  the  custom 
of  the  ancient  states,  imitated  the  nobility  and  clergy  without  hesi- 
tation :  the  time  when  the  third  order  should  remain  covered  and 
speak  kneeling  was  gone  by.  The  king's  speech  was  then  expected 
in  profound  silence.  Men  were  eager  to  know  the  true  feeling  of 
the  government  with  regard  to  the  states.  Did  it  purpose  assimi- 
lating the  new  assembly  to  the  ancient,  or  granting  it  the  part  which 
the  necessities  of  the  state  and  the  importance  of  the  occasion  as- 
signed to  it  ? 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  king,  with  emotion,  "  the  day  I  have 
so  anxiously  expected  has  at  length  arrived,  and  I  see  around  me 
the  representatives  of  the  nation  which  I  glory  in  governing.  A 
long  interval  had  elapsed  since  the  last  session  of  the  states-general, 
and  although  the  convocation  of  these  assemblies  seemed  to  have 
fallen  into  disuse,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  restore  a  custom  from  which 
the  kingdom  might  derive  new  force,  and  which  might  open  to  the 
nation  a  new  source  of  happiness." 

These  words  which  promised  much  were  only  followed  by 
explanations  as  to  the  debt  and  announcements  of  retrenchment  in 
the  expenditure.  The  king,  instead  of  wisely  tracing  out  to  the 
states  the  course  they  ought  to  follow,  urged  the  orders  to  union, 
expressed  his  want  of  money,  his  dread  of  innovations,  and  com- 
plained of  the  uneasiness  of  the  public  mind,  without  suggesting  any 
means  of  satisfying  it.  He  was  nevertheless  very  much  applauded 
when  he  delivered  at  the  close  of  his  discourse  the  following  words, 
which  fully  described  his  intentions :  "  All  that  can  be  expected  from 
the  dearest  interest  in  the  public  welfare,  all  that  can  be  required  of 
a  sovereign,  the  first  friend  of  his  people,  you  may  and  ought  to 
hope  from  my  sentiments.  That  a  happy  spirit  of  union  may  per- 
vade this  assembly-  gentlemen,  and  that  this  may  be  an  ever-memor- 
able epoch  for  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  kingdom,  is  the 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  43 

1789 

wish  of  my  heart,  the  most  ardent  of  my  desires;  it  is,  in  a  word, 
the  reward  which  I  expect  for  the  uprightness  of  my  intentions, 
and  my  love  of  my  subjects." 

Barentin,  keeper  of  the  seals,  spoke  next.  His  speech  was  an 
amplification  respecting  the  states-general  and  the  favors  of  the 
king.  After  a  long  preamble  he  at  last  touched  upon  the  topics  of 
the  occasion.  "  His  majesty,"  he  said,  "  has  not  changed  the  form 
of  the  ancient  assemblies,  by  granting  a  double  representation  in  fa- 
vor of  the  most  numerous  of  the  three  orders,  that  on  which  the  bur- 
den of  taxation  chiefly  falls ;  has  not  changed  the  form  of  the  an- 
cient deliberations ;  although  that  by  poll,  producing  but  one  result, 
seems  to  have  the  advantage  of  best  representing  the  general  desire, 
the  king  wishes  this  new  form  should  be  adopted  only  with  the  free 
consent  of  the  states,  and  the  approval  of  his  majesty.  But  what- 
ever may  be  the  opinion  on  this  cjuestion,  whatever  distinctions  may 
be  drawn  between  the  different  matters  that  will  become  the  sub- 
jects of  dehberation,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  most  entire 
harmony  will  unite  the  three  orders  on  the  subject  of  taxation." 
The  government  was  not  opposed  to  the  vote  by  poll  in  pecuniary 
matters,  it  being  more  expeditious ;  but  in  political  questions  it 
declared  itself  in  favor  of  voting  by  order,  as  a  more  effectual  check 
on  innovations.  In  this  way  it  sought  to  arrive  at  its  own  end — 
namely,  subsidies,  and  not  to  allow  the  nation  to  obtain  its  object, 
which  was  reform.  The  manner  in  which  the  keeper  of  the  seals 
determined  the  province  of  tlie  states-general  discovered  more 
plainly  the  intentions  of  the  court.  He  reduced  them,  in  a  measure, 
to  the  inquiry  into  taxation,  in  order  to  vote  it,  and  to  the  discussion 
of  a  law  respecting  the  press,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  its  limits, 
and  to  the  reform  of  civil  and  criminal  legislation.  He  proscribed 
all  other  changes,  and  concluded  by  saying:  "  All  just  demands  have 
been  granted;  the  king  has  not  noticed  indiscreet  murmurs;  he  has 
condescended  to  overlook  them  with  inrlulgence ;  he  has  even  for- 
given the  expression  of  tliose  false  and  extravagant  maxims  under 
fa\or  of  which  altcm})ts  have  Ijcen  made  to  substitute  pernicious 
chimeras  for  the  unalterable  princi|)les  of  monarchy.  You  will 
with  indignation,  gentlemen,  rc])el  the  dangerous  innovations  which 
tlie  enemies  of  public  good  seek  to  confound  with  the  ncccssarv  and 
liappy  changes  which  this  regeneration  ought  to  produce,  and  which 
form  the  first  wish  of  his  majesty." 

This  speech   displayed   little  kninvledge  of  the  wishes  of  the 


44.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

nation,  or  it  sought  openly  to  combat  them.  The  dissatisfied  assem- 
bly looked  to  Necker,  from  whom  it  expected  different  language. 
He  was  the  popular  minister,  had  obtained  the  double  representa- 
tion, and  it  was  hoped  he  would  approve  of  the  vote  by  poll,  the 
only  way  of  enabling  the  third  estate  to  turn  its  members  to  account. 
But  he  spoke  as  comptroller-general  and  as  a  man  of  caution.  His 
speech,  which  lasted  three  hours,  was  a  lengthened  budget,  and 
when,  after  tiring  the  assembly,  he  touched  on  the  topic  of  interest, 
he  spoke  undecidedly,  in  order  to  avoid  committing  himself  either 
with  the  court  or  the  people.  Since  Brienne's  ministry,  Necker  said, 
the  deficit  had  been  reduced  by  20,000,000  francs,  and  now  amounted 
to  56,000,000.  The  truth  was  the  state  was  bankrupt,  for  it  w'as 
carrying  a  floating  debt  of  551,500,000,  a  sum  that  could  not  be 
paid — even  the  interest  upon  it — unless  reform  w^as  made.  On 
Necker's  reappointment,  specie  payments  had  been  immediately 
resumed,  September  14,  1788.  Indeed,  Necker  was  reappointed 
for  just  that  purpose.  From  this  time  until  the  meeting  of  the 
states-general  in  1789  he  had  concentrated  his  entire  attention  on 
keeping  things  going.  By  sheer  personal  strength  he  carried  the 
finances  through  this  period,  using  his  own  personal  credit  time  and 
again  to  do  it.  When  the  states-general  met,  on  May  5,  1789,  his 
statement  showed  an  annual  deficit  of  only  56  millions,  and  he  added 
that  it  was  a  small  matter,  and  one  that  the  king  alone  could  easily 
deal  with !  This  is  the  assembly  whose  call  had  been  suggested  by 
the  notables  to  provide  for  Calonne's  deficit  of  140  millions,  the 
assembly  whose  election  proceeded  so  slowly  that  Brienne  had  been 
forced  to  resort  to  issues  of  paper,  and  yet,  on  its  first  gathering, 
it  is  told  by  the  minister  that  there  really  is  no  occasion  for  its  meet- 
ing. By  a  stroke  of  the  pen  Necker  had  cut  off  more  than  100 
millions  of  deficit.  What  was  Necker's  object  in  this  policy?  Was 
it  to  prevent  any  action  by  the  assembly  in  the  hope  that,  being  left 
to  himself,  he  would  in  the  course  of  time  be  able  to  fund  the  float- 
ing debt,  and  so  systematize  the  financial  system  that  the  expenses 
and  receipts  would  hereafter  be  in  equilibrium?  Or  was  it  that  he 
really  had  no  plan  to  propose?  Whatever  guided  his  policy,  one 
thing  is  certain,  and  that  is  that  in  not  presenting  to  the  asseinbly 
on  May  5,  1789,  a  definite  plan  for  the  rehabilitation  of  the  treasury, 
he  missed  the  opportunity  of  his  life.  In  all  probability  the  assem- 
bly would  have  passed  any  reasonable  bill  that  he  might  have  pro- 
posed, for  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  majority  of  the  members,  at 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  45 

1789 

the  opening  of  the  sessions,  felt  strongly  their  own  inability  to  deal 
unaided  with  a  problem  so  complicated. 

The  government  ought  to  have  better  understood  the  impor- 
tance of  the  states-general.  The  restoration  of  this  assembly  alone 
announced  a  great  revolution.  Looked  for  with  hope  by  the  nation, 
it  reappeared  at  an  epoch  when  the  ancient  monarchy  was  sinking, 
and  when  it  alone  was  capable  of  reforming  the  state  and  providing 
for  the  necessities  of  royalty.  The  difficulties  of  the  time,  the  nature 
of  their  mission,  the  choice  of  their  members,  everything  announced 
that  the  states  were  not  assembled  as  taxpayers,  but  as  legislators. 
The  right  of  regenerating  France  had  been  granted  them  by  opin- 
ion, was  devolved  on  them  by  public  resolutions,  and  they  found  in 
the  enormity  of  the  abuses  and  the  public  encouragement  strength 
to  undertake  and  accomplish  this  great  task. 

It  behooved  the  king  to  associate  himself  with  their  labors. 
In  this  way  he  would  have  been  able  to  restore  his  power  and  insure 
himself  from  the  excesses  of  a  revolution  by  himself  assisting  in 
bringing  it  about.  If.  taking  the  lead  in  these  changes,  he  had  fixed 
the  new  order  of  things  with  firmness,  but  with  justice;  if,  realizing 
the  wishes  of  France,  he  had  determined  the  rights  of  her  citizens, 
the  province  of  the  states-general,  and  the  limits  of  royalty;  if,  on 
his  own  part,  he  had  renounced  arbitrary  power,  inequality  on  the 
part  of  the  nobility,  and  privileges  on  the  part  of  the  different  bod- 
ies ;  in  a  word,  if  he  had  accomplished  all  the  reforms  which  were 
demanded  by  public  opinion,  and  executed  by  the  constituent  assem- 
bly, he  would  have  prevented  the  fatal  dissensions  which  subse- 
quently arose.  It  is  rare  to  find  a  prince  willing  to  share  his  power, 
or  sufticiently  enlightened  to  yield  what  he  will  be  reduced  to  lose. 
Yet  Louis  XVI.  would  have  done  this,  if  he  had  been  less  influenced 
by  those  around  him,  and  had  he  followed  the  dictates  of  his  own 
mind.  But  the  greatest  anarchy  perv^aded  the  councils  of  the  king. 
When  the  states-general  assembled,  no  measures  had  been  taken, 
nothing  had  been  decided  on,  which  might  prevent  dispute.  Louis 
XVT.  wavered  between  his  ministry,  directed  by  Necker,  and  his 
court,  directed  by  the  queen  and  a  few  princes  of  his  family. 

Necker,  satisfied  with  obtaining  the  representation  of  the  third 
estate,  dreaded  the  indecision  of  the  king  and  the  discontent  of  the 
court.  Not  appreciating  sufficiently  the  importance  of  a  crisis  which 
he  considered  more  as  a  financial  than  a  social  one,  he  waited  for 
the  course  of  events  in  order  to  act,  and  flattered  himself  with  the 


46  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

hope  of  being  able  to  guide  these  events,  without  attempting  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  them.  He  felt  that  the  ancient  organization  of  the 
states  could  no  longer  be  maintained;  that  the  existence  of  three 
orders,  each  possessing  the  right  of  refusal,  was  opposed  to  the  exe- 
cution of  reform  and  the  progress  of  administration.  He  hoped, 
after  a  trial  of  this  triple  opposition,  to  reduce  the  number  of  the 
orders  and  bring  about  the  adoption  of  the  English  form  of  govern- 
ment, by  uniting  the  clergy  and  nobility  in  one  chamber,  and  the 
third  estate  in  another.  He  did  not  foresee  that  the  struggle  once 
begun,  his  interposition  would  be  in  vain :  that  half  measures  would 
suit  neither  party;  that  the  weak  through  obstinacy,  and  the  strong 
through  passion,  would  oppose  this  system  of  moderation.  Con- 
cessions satisfy  only  before  a  victory. 

The  court,  so  far  from  wishing  to  organize  the  states-general, 
sought  to  annul  them.  It  preferred  the  casual  resistance  of  the  great 
bodies  of  the  nation  to  the  sharing  authority  with  a  permanent 
assembly.  The  separation  of  the  orders  favored  its  views ;  it  reck- 
oned on  fomenting  their  differences,  and  thus  preventing  them  from 
acting.  The  states-general  had  never  achieved  any  result,  owing  to 
the  defect  of  their  organization ;  the  court  hoped  that  it  w^ould  still 
be  the  same,  since  the  first  two  orders  were  less  disposed  to  yield 
to  the  reforms  solicited  by  the  last.  The  clergy  wished  to  preserve 
its  privileges  and  its  opulence,  and  clearly  foresaw  that  the  sacrifices 
to  be  made  by  it  were  more  numerous  than  the  advantages  to  be 
acquired.  The  nobility,  on  its  side,  while  it  resumed  a  political  inde- 
pendence long  since  lost,  was  aware  that  it  would  have  to  yield  more 
to  the  people  than  it  could  obtain  from  royalty.  It  was  almost 
entirely  in  favor  of  the  third  estate,  that  the  new  revolution  was 
about  to  operate,  and  the  first  two  orders  were  induced  to  unite  with 
the  court  against  the  third  estate  as  but  lately  they  had  coalesced 
with  the  third  estate  against  the  court.  Interest  alone  led  to  this 
change  of  party,  and  they  united  with  the  monarch  without  aft'ec- 
tion,  as  they  had  defended  the  people  without  regard  to  public  good. 

No  efforts  were  spared  to  keep  the  nobility  and  clergy  in  this 
disposition.  The  deputies  of  these  two  orders  were  the  objects  of 
favors  and  allurements.  A  committee,  to  which  the  most  illustrious 
persons  belonged,  was  held  at  the  Countess  de  Polignac's;  the 
principal  deputies  were  admitted  to  it.  It  was  here  that  were  gained 
D'Empremesnil  and  D'Entraigues,  two  of  the  warmest  advocates  of 
liberty  in  parlement,  or  before  the  states-general,  and  who  after- 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  47 

1789 

ward  became  its  most  decided  opponents.  Here  also  the  costume 
of  the  deputies  of  the  different  orders  was  determined  on,  and 
attempts  made  to  separate  them,  first  by  etiquette,  then  by  intrigue, 
and,  lastly,  by  force.  The  recollection  of  the  ancient  states-general 
prevailed  in  the  court ;  it  thought  it  could  regulate  the  present  by  the 
past,  restrain  Paris  by  the  army,  the  deputies  of  the  third  estate  by 
those  of  the  nobility,  rule  the  states  by  separating  the  orders,  and 
separate  the  orders  by  reviving  ancient  customs  which  exalted  the 
nobles  and  lowered  the  commons.  Thus,  after  the  first  sitting,  it 
was  supposed  that  all  had  been  prevented  by  granting  nothing. 

On  May  6,  the  day  after  the  opening  of  the  states,  the  nobility 
and  clerg}^  repaired  to  their  respective  chambers,  and  constituted 
themselves.  The  third  estate  being,  on  account  of  its  double  repre- 
sentation, the  most  numerous  order,  had  the  Salle  des  fitats  allotted 
to  it,  and  there  awaited  the  two  other  orders;  it  considered  its  situ- 
ation as  provisional,  its  members  as  presumptive  deputies,  and 
adopted  a  system  of  inactivity  till  the  other  orders  should  unite  with 
it.  Then  a  memorable  struggle  commenced,  the  issue  of  which  was 
to  decide  whether  the  revolution  should  be  effected  or  stopped.  The 
future  fate  of  France  depended  on  the  separation  or  reunion  of  the 
orders.  This  important  question  arose  on  the  subject  of  the  verifica- 
tion of  powers.  The  popular  deputies  asserted  very  justly  that  it 
ought  to  be  made  in  common,  since,  even  refusing  the  reunion  of 
the  orders,  they  could  not  deny  the  interest  which  each  of  them  had 
in  the  examination  of  the  powers  of  the  others ;  the  privileged  depu- 
ties argued,  on  the  contrary,  that  since  the  orders  had  a  distinct 
existence,  the  verification  ought  to  be  made  respectively.  They  felt 
that  one  single  cooperation  would,  for  the  future,  render  all  separa- 
tion impossible. 

The  commons  acted  with  much  circumspection,  deliberation, 
and  steadiness.  It  was  by  a  succession  of  efforts,  not  unattended 
with  peril,  by  slow  and  undecided  success,  and  by  struggles  con- 
stantly renewing,  that  they  attained  their  object.  The  systematic 
inactivity  they  adopted  from  the  commencement  was  the  surest  and 
wisest  course;  there  are  occasions  when  the  way  to  victory 
is  to  know  how  to  wait  for  it.  The  commons  were  unanimous, 
and  alone  formed  the  numerical  half  of  the  states-general;  the 
nobility  had  in  its  bosom  some  popular  dissentients ;  the  majority 
of  the  clergy,  composed  of  several  bishops,  friends  of  peace,  and  of 
the  numerous  class  of  the  cures,  the  third  estate  of  the  church, 


48  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

entertained  sentiments  favorable  to  the  commons.^  Weariness  was 
therefore  to  bring  about  a  union;  this  was  what  the  third  estate 
hoped,  what  the  bishops  feared,  and  what  induced  them  on  May  13 
to  offer  themselves  as  mediators.  But  this  mediation  was  of  neces- 
sity without  any  resuU,  as  the  nobihty  would  not  admit  voting-  by 
poll,  nor  the  commons  voting  by  order.  Accordingly,  the  concilia- 
tory conferences,  after  being  prolonged  in  vain  till  May  27,  were 
broken  up  by  the  nobility,  who  declared  in  favor  of  separate 
verification. 

The  day  after  this  hostile  decision  the  commons  determined  to 
declare  themselves  the  assembly  of  the  nation,  and  invited  the  clergy 
to  join  them  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  peace  and  the  common  weal. 
The  court,  taking  alarm  at  this  measure,  interfered  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  the  conferences  resumed.  The  first  commissioners 
appointed  for  purposes  of  reconciliation  were  charged  with  regu- 
lating the  differences  of  the  orders ;  the  ministry  undertook  to  regu- 
late the  differences  of  the  commissioners.  In  this  way  the  states 
depended  on  a  commission,  and  the  commission  had  the  counsel  of 
the  prince  for  arbiter.  But  these  new  conferences  had  not  a  more 
fortunate  issue  than  the  first.  They  lingered  on  without  either  of 
the  orders  being  willing  to  yield  anything  to  the  others,  and  the 
nobility  finally  broke  them  up  by  confirming  all  its  resolutions.^ 

Five  weeks  had  already  elapsed  in  useless  parleys.  The  third 
estate,  perceiving  the  moment  had  arrived  for  it  to  constitute  itself, 
and  that  longer  delay  would  indispose  the  nation  toward  it,  and 
destroy  the  confidence  it  had  acquired  by  the  refusal  of  the  privi- 
leged classes  to  cooperate  with  it,  decided  on  acting,  and  displayed 
herein  the  same  moderation  and  firmness  it  had  shown  during  its 
inactivity.  Mirabeau  announced  that  a  deputy  of  Paris  had  a  motion 
to  propose ;  and  Sieyes,  physically  of  timid  character,  but  of  an  enter- 

1  In  each  of  the  privileged  orders  a  motion  toward  union  was  made  and 
defeated:  in  that  of  the  clergy,  by  a  vote  of  133  to  1 14;  in  that  of  the  nobility, 
by  a  vote  of  188  to  47. 

2  Louis  XVI.  lost  a  golden  opportunity  at  this  time  by  failure  to  take  any 

initiative.     Gouverneur  Morris  wrote  on  June  2,  1789:  "I  propose  to  that 

the  king  should  cut  the  knot  which  the  states  cannot  untie,  viz. :  that  he  should 
prescribe  to  them  the  future  constitution  and  leave  them  to  consider."—"  Diary 
and  Letters,"  vol.  I.  p.  96.  Fundamentally,  though,  the  blame  must  fall  on 
Necker,  as  the  king's  chief  minister.  Of  him  Morris  a  little  later  than  the 
above,  on  July  i,  1789,  wrote  to  Washington:  "If  his  abilities  were  equal  to  his 
genius  and  he  was  as  much  supported  by  firmness  as  he  is  swayed  by  ambition, 
he  would  have  the  exalted  honor  of  giving  a  free  constitution  to  above  twenty 
millions  of  his  fellow-creatures."    (Ibid.  vol.  I.  p.  no). 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  49 

1789 

prising  mind,  who  had  great  authority  by  his  ideas,  and  was  better 
suited  than  anyone  to  propose  a  measure,  proved  the  impossibihty 
of  union,  the  urgency  of  verification,  the  justice  of  demanding 
it  in  common,  and  caused  it  to  be  decreed  by  the  assembly  that  the 
nobihty  and  clergy  should  be  invited  to  the  hall  of  the  states  in  order 
to  take  part  in  the  verification,  which  would  take  place,  whether 
they  were  absent  or  present. 

The  measure  for  general  verification  was  followed  by  another 
still  more  energetic.  The  commons,  after  having  terminated  the 
verification  on  June  17,  on  the  motion  of  Sieyes,  constituted  them- 
selves the  national  assembly.^  This  bold  step,  by  which  the  most 
numerous  order  and  the  only  one  whose  powers  were  legalized, 
declared  itself  the  representation  of  France,  and  refused  to  recog- 
nize the  other  two  till  they  submitted  to  the  verification,  determined 
questions  hitherto  undecided,  and  changed  the  assembly  of  the  states 
into  an  assembly  of  the  people.  The  system  of  orders  was  lost  in 
political  powers,  and  this  was  the  first  step  toward  the  abolition  of 
classes  in  the  private  system.  This  memorable  decree  of  June  17 
contained  the  germ  of  the  night  of  August  4,  but  it  was  necessary 
to  defend  what  they  had  dared  to  decide,  and  there  was  reason  to 
fear  such  a  determination  could  not  be  maintained. 

The  first  decree  of  the  national  assembly  was  an  act  of  sov- 
ereignty. It  placed  the  privileged  classes  under  its  dependence,  by 
proclaiming  the  indivisibility  of  the  legislative  power.  The  court 
remained  to  be  restrained  by  means  of  taxation.  The  assembly 
declared  the  illegality  of  previous  imposts,  voted  them  provisionally, 
as  long  as  it  continued  to  sit,  and  their  cessation  on  its  dissolution; 
it  restored  the  confidence  of  capitalists  by  consolidating  the  public 
debt,  and  provided  for  the  necessities  of  the  people  by  appointing  a 
committee  of  subsistence. 

Such  firmness  and  foresight  excited  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
nation.  But  those  who  directed  the  court  saw  that  the  divisions 
thus  excited  between  the  orders  had  failed  in  their  object;  and  that 
it  was  necessary  to  resort  to  other  means  to  obtain  it.  They  con- 
sidered the  royal  authority  alone  adequate  to  prescribe  the  continu- 
ance of  the  orders,  which  the  opposition  of  the  nobles  could  no 
longer  preserve.     They  took  advantage  of  a  journey  to  jMarly  to 

3  Of  this  famous  resolve  it  has  been  well  said  that  "  except  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  it  was  the  most  decisive  step  ever  taken  by  any  body  of  men." 
On  July  9,  the  national  assembly  officially  added  the  term  "constituent"  to  the 
earlier  title. 


50  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

remove  Louis  XVL  from  the  influence  of  the  prudent  and  pacific 
counsels  of  Necker,  and  to  induce  him  to  adopt  hostile  measures. 
This  prince,  aHke  accessible  to  good  and  bad  counsels,  surrounded 
by  a  court  given  up  to  party  spirit,  and  entreated  for  the  interests 
of  his  crown  and  in  the  name  of  religion  to  stop  the  pernicious 
progress  of  the  commons,  yielded  at  last  and  promised  everything. 
It  was  decided  that  he  should  go  in  state  to  the  assembly,  annul  its 
decrees,  command  the  separation  of  the  orders  as  constitutive  of  the 
monarchy,  and  himself  fix  the  reforms  to  be  effected  by  the  states- 
general.  From  that  moment  the  privy  council  held  the  government, 
acting  no  longer  secretly,  but  in  the  most  open  manner.  Barentin, 
the  keeper  of  the  seals,  the  Count  d'Artois,  the  Prince  de  Conde, 
and  the  Prince  de  Conti  conducted  alone  the  projects  they  had  con- 
certed. Necker  lost  all  his  influence ;  he  had  proposed  to  the  king  a 
conciliatory  plan,  which  might  have  succeeded  before  the  struggle 
attained  this  degree  of  animosity,  but  could  do  so  no  longer.  He 
had  advised  another  royal  sitting,  in  which  the  vote  by  poll  in  mat- 
ters of  taxation  was  to  be  granted,  and  the  vote  by  order  to  remain 
in  matters  of  private  interest  and  privilege.  This  measure,  which 
was  unfavorable  to  the  commons,  since  it  tended  to  maintain  abuses 
by  investing  the  nobility  and  clergy  with  the  right  of  opposing  their 
abolition,  would  have  been  followed  by  the  establishment  of  two 
chambers  for  the  next  states-general.  Necker  was  fond  of  half- 
measures,  and  wished  to  effect,  by  successive  concessions,  a  political 
change  which  should  have  been  accomplished  at  once.  The  moment 
was  arrived  to  grant  the  nation  all  its  rights,  or  to  leave  it  to  take 
them.  His  project  of  a  royal  sitting,  already  insufficient,  w^as 
changed  into  a  stroke  of  state  policy  by  the  new  council.  The  latter 
thought  that  the  injunctions  of  the  throne  would  intimidate  the 
assembly,  and  that  France  would  be  satisfied  with  promises  of 
reform.  It  seemed  to  be  ignorant  tliat  the  worst  risk  royalty  can 
be  exposed  to  is  that  of  disobedience. 

Strokes  of  state  policy  generally  come  unexpectedly,  and  sur- 
prise those  they  are  intended  to  influence.  It  was  not  so  with  this; 
its  preparations  tended  to  prevent  success.  It  was  feared  that  the 
majority  of  the  clergy  would  recognize  the  assembly  by  uniting 
with  it;  and  to  prevent  so  decided  a  step,  instead  of  hastening  the 
royal  sittings,  they  closed  the  hall  of  the  states,  in  order  to  suspend 
the  assembly  until  the  day  of  the  sittings.  The  preparations  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  presence  of  the  king  were  the  pretext  for  this 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  51 

1789 

unskillful  and  improper  measure.  At  that  time  Bailly  presided  over 
the  assembly.  This  virtuous  citizen  had  obtained,  without  seeking 
them,  all  the  honors  of  dawning  liberty.  He  was  the  first  president 
of  the  assembly,  as  he  had  been  the  first  deputy  of  Paris,  and  was  to 
become  its  first  mayor.  Beloved  by  his  own  party,  respected  by  his 
adversaries,  he  combined  with  the  mildest  and  most  enlightened 
virtues  the  most  courageous  sense  of  duty.  Apprised  on  the  night 
before  June  20,  by  the  keeper  of  the  seals,  of  the  suspension  of  the 
sittings,  he  remained  faithful  to  the  wishes  of  the  assembly  and  did 
not  fear  disobeying  the  court.  At  an  appointed  hour  on  the  follow- 
ing day  he  repaired  to  the  hall  of  the  states,  and  finding  an  armed 
force  in  possession,  he  protested  against  this  act  of  despotism.  In 
the  meantime  the  deputies  arrived,  dissatisfaction  increased,  all 
seemed  disposed  to  brave  the  perils  of  a  sitting.  The  most  indig- 
nant proposed  going  to  Marly,  and  holding  the  assembly  under  the 
windows  of  the  king ;  one  named  the  tennis  court ;  *  this  proposition 
was  well  received,  and  the  deputies  repaired  thither  in  procession. 
Bailly  was  at  their  head ;  the  people  followed  them  with  enthusiasm ; 
even  soldiers  volunteered  to  escort  them,  and  there,  in  a  bare  hall, 
the  deputies  of  the  commons  standing  with  upraised  hands,  and 
hearts  full  of  their  sacred  mission,  swore,  with  only  one  exception, 
not  to  separate  until  they  had  given  France  a  constitution. 

This  solemn  oath,  taken  on  June  20,  in  the  presence  of  the 
nation,  was  followed  on  the  22d  by  an  important  triumph.  The 
assembly,  still  deprived  of  their  usual  place  of  meeting,  unable  to 
make  use  of  the  tennis  court,  the  princes  having  engaged  it  pur- 
posely that  it  might  be  refused  them,  met  in  the  church  of  Saint 
Louis.  In  this  sitting  the  majority  of  the  clergy  joined  them  in  the 
midst  of  patriotic  transports.  Thus  the  measures  taken  to  intimi- 
date the  assembly  increased  its  courage  and  accelerated  the  union 
they  were  intended  to  prevent.  By  these  two  failures  the  court 
prefaced  the  famous  sitting  of  June  23. 

At  length  it  took  place.  A  numerous  guard  surrounded  the 
hall  of  the  states-general,  the  door  of  which  was  opened  to  the  depu- 
ties, but  closed  to  tlie  public.  The  king  came  surrounded  with  the 
pomp  of  power;  he  was  received,  contrary  to  the  usual  custom,  in 
profound  silence.     His  speech  completed  the  measure  of  discontent 

*  The  tennis  court  was  not  an  open  piece  of  ground,  but  a  covered  building, 
not  far  from  tlie  palace  of  Versailles.  It  stands  to-day,  as  a  monument  historiquc, 
and  is  used  as  a  museum  of  the  revolution. 


52  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

by  the  tone  of  authority  with  which  he  dictated  measures  rejected 
by  pubhc  opinion  and  by  the  assembly.  The  king  complained  of  a 
want  of  union,  excited  by  the  court  itself;  he  censured  the  conduct 
of  the  assembly,  regarding  it  only  as  the  order  of  the  third  estate; 
he  annulled  its  decrees,  enjoined  the  continuance  of  the  orders, 
imposed  reforms,  and  determined  their  limits;  enjoined  the  states- 
general  to  adopt  them,  and  threatened  to  dissolve  them  and  to  pro- 
vide alone  for  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom  if  he  met  with  more 
opposition  on  their  part.  After  this  scene  of  authority,  so  ill-suited 
to  the  occasion,  and  at  variance  with  his  heart,  Louis  XVL  withdrew, 
having  commanded  the  deputies  to  disperse.  The  clergy  and  nobil- 
ity obeyed.  The  deputies  of  the  people,  motionless,  silent,  and  indig- 
nant, remained  seated.  They  continued  in  that  attitude  some  time, 
when  Mirabeau,  suddenly  breaking  silence,  said:  "Gentlemen,  I 
admit  that  what  you  have  just  heard  might  be  for  the  welfare  of  the 
country,  were  it  not  that  the  presents  of  despotism  are  always  dan- 
gerous. What  is  this  insulting  dictatorship?  The  pomp  of  arms, 
the  violation  of  the  national  temple,  are  resorted  to — to  command 
you  to  be  happy!  Who  gives  this  command?  Your  mandatary. 
Who  makes  these  imperious  laws  for  you?  Your  mandatary;  he 
who  should  rather  receive  them  from  you,  gentlemen — from  us,  who 
are  invested  with  a  political  and  inviolable  priesthood;  from  us,  in 
a  word,  to  whom  alone  twenty-five  millions  of  men  are  looking  for 
certain  happiness,  because  it  is  to  be  consented  to,  and  given  and 
received  by  all.  But  the  liberty  of  your  discussions  is  enchained ;  a 
military  force  surrounds  the  assembly!  Where  are  the  enemies  of 
the  nation?  Is  Catiline  at  our  gates?  I  demand,  investing  your- 
selves with  your  dignity,  with  your  legislative  power,  you  inclose 
yourselves  within  the  religion  of  your  oath.  It  does  not  permit  you 
to  separate  till  you  have  formed  a  constitution." 

The  grand  master  of  the  ceremonies,  finding  the  assembly  did 
not  break  u]),  came  and  reminded  them  of  the  king's  order. 

"  Go  and  tell  your  master,"  cried  Mirabeau,  "  that  we  are  here 
at  the  command  of  the  people,  and  nothing  but  the  bayonet  shall 
drive  us  hence."  ^ 

"  You  are  to-day,"  added  Sieyes  calmly,  "  what  you  were  yes- 
terday.    Let  us  deliberate." 

The  assembly,  full  of  resolution  and  dignity,  began  the  debate 

^  There  arc  various  vcrsioiis  of  this  famous  utterance  by  ^Mirabeau.     Some 
authorities    deny   the    speech    in    tuto. 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  53 

1789 

accordingly.  On  the  motion  of  Camus,  it  was  determined  to  per- 
sist in  the  decrees  already  made;  and  upon  that  of  Mirabeau  the 
inviolability  of  the  members  of  the  assembly  was  decreed. 

On  that  day  the  royal  authority  was  lost.  The  initiative  in 
law,  and  moral  power  passed  from  the  monarch  to  the  assembly. 
Those  who  by  their  counsels  had  provoked  this  resistance  did  not 
dare  to  punish  it.  Necker,  whose  dismissal  had  been  decided  on  that 
morning,  was  in  the  evening  entreated  by  the  queen  and  Louis 
XVI.  to  remain  in  office.  This  minister  had  disapproved  of  the 
royal  sitting,  and  by  refusing  to  be  present  at  it  he  again  won  the 
confidence  of  the  assembly,  which  he  had  lost  through  his  hesitation. 
The  season  of  disgrace  was  for  him  the  season  of  popularity.  By 
this  refusal  he  became  the  ally  of  the  assembly,  which  determined 
to  support  him.  Every  crisis  requires  a  leader,  whose  name  becomes 
the  standard  of  his  party;  while  the  assembly  contended  with  the 
court  that  leader  was  Xecker. 

At  the  first  sitting  that  part  of  the  clergy  which  had  united 
with  the  assembly  in  the  church  of  Saint  Louis  again  sat  with  it; 
a  few  days  after  forty-seven  members  of  the  nobility,  among  whom 
was  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  joined  them ;  and  the  court  was  itself 
compelled  to  invite  the  nobility,  and  a  minority  of  the  clerg\%  to  dis- 
continue a  dissent  that  would  henceforth  be  useless.  On  June  27 
the  deliberation  became  general.  The  orders  ceased  to  exist  legally, 
and  soon  disappeared.  The  distinct  seats  they  had  hitherto  occu- 
pied in  the  common  hall  soon  became  confounded ;  the  futile  pre- 
eminences of  rank  vanished  before  national  authority.® 

The  court,  after  having  vainly  endeavored  to  prevent  the  for- 
mation of  the  assembly,  could  now  only  unite  with  it  to  direct  its 
operations.  With  prudence  and  candor  it  might  still  have  repaired 
its  errors  and  caused  its  attacks  to  be  forgotten.  At  certain  mo- 
ments the  initiative  may  be  taken  in  making  sacrifices;  at  others,  all 
that  can  be  done  is  to  make  a  merit  of  accepting  them.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  states-general  the  king  might  himself  have  made  the  con- 
stitution, now  he  was  obliged  to  receive  it  from  the  assembly ;  had 
he  submitted  to  tliat  position  he  would  infallibly  have  improved  it. 

^'' The  nobles  have  this  clay,  agreeably  to  a  request  of  the  king,  joined  the 
other  two  orders.  So  that  at  Ien5i.l1  the  great  question  is  determined  and  the 
votes  will  be  par  tcte  (by  poll).  It  remains  for  them  only  to  form  a  constitution, 
and  as  the  king  is  extremely  timid,  he  will,  of  course,  surrender  at  discretion. 
The  existence  of  the  monarchy,  therefore,  depends  on  the  moderation  of  the 
assembly." — "  Diary  and   Letters  "  of  Gouverneur   }iIorris,  vol.    I.   p.    io6. 


54  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

But  the  advisers  of  Louis  XVI.,  when  they  recovered  from  the  first 
surprise  of  defeat,  resolved  to  have  recourse  to  the  use  of  the  bay- 
onet, after  they  had  failed  in  that  of  authority.  They  led  the  king 
to  suppose  that  the  contempt  of  his  orders,  the  safety  of  his  throne, 
tlie  maintenance  of  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  even  the  well-being 
of  his  people  depended  on  his  reducing  the  assembly  to  submission ; 
that  the  latter,  sitting  at  Versailles,  close  to  Paris,  two  cities  decid- 
edly in  its  favor,  ought  to  be  subdued  by  force  and  removed  to  some 
other  place,  or  dissolved ;  that  it  was  urgent  that  this  resolution 
should  be  adopted  in  order  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  assembly, 
and  that  in  order  to  execute  it,  it  was  necessary  speedily  to  call 
together  troops  who  might  intimidate  the  assembly  and  maintain 
order  at  Paris  and  Versailles. 

While  these  plots  were  hatching,  the  deputies  of  the  nation 
began  their  legislative  labors,  and  prepared  the  anxiously  expected 
constitution,  which  they  considered  they  ought  no  longer  to  delay. 
Addresses  poured  in  from  Paris  and  the  principal  towns  of  the 
kingdom,  congratulating  them  on  their  w-isdom,  and  encouraging 
them  to  continue  their  task  of  regenerating  France.  The  troops, 
meantime,  arrived  in  great  numbers.'^  Versailles  assumed  the  as- 
pect of  a  camp;  the  hall  of  the  states  was  surrounded  by  guards, 
and  the  citizens  refused  admission.  Paris  was  also  encompassed 
by  various  bodies  of  the  army,  ready  to  besiege  or  blockade  it,  as 
the  occasion  might  require.  These  vast  military  preparations, 
trains  of  artillery  arriving  from  the  frontiers,  and  the  presence  of 
foreign  regiments,  whose  obedience  was  unlimited,  announced  sinis- 
ter projects.  The  populace  were  restless  and  agitated;  and  the 
assembly  desired  to  enlighten  the  throne  with  respect  to  its  projects, 
and  solicit  the  dismission  of  the  troops.  At  Mirabeau's  sugges- 
tion, it  presented  on  July  9  a  firm  but  respectful  address  to  the  king, 
which  proved  useless.  Louis  XVL  declared  that  he  alone  had  to 
judge  the  necessity  of  assembling  or  dismissing  troops,  and  as- 
sured them  that  those  assembled  formed  only  a  precautionary  army 
to  prevent  disturbances  and  protect  the  assembly.  He  moreover 
offered  the  assembly  to  remove  it  to  Noyon  or  Soissons,  that  is  to 
say,  to  place  it  between  two  armies  and  deprive  it  of  the  support 
of  the  people. 

■^  There  were  eight  foreign  regiments.  The  plan  was  to  reduce  Paris  to 
famine  and  to  take  two  hundred  members  of  the  national  assembly  prisoners. 
See  "  Diary  and  Letters  "  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  vol.   I.  p.    128. 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  55 

1789 

Paris  was  in  the  greatest  excitement;  this  vast  city  was  unani- 
mous in  its  devotion  to  the  assembly.  The  perils  that  threatened 
the  representatives  of  the  nation,  and  itself,  and  the  scarcity  of 
food  disposed  it  to  insurrection.  Capitalists,  from  interest  and  the 
fear  of  bankruptcy;  men  of  enlightenment  and  all  the  middle 
classes,  from  patriotism ;  the  people,  impelled  by  want,  ascribing 
their  sufferings  to  the  privileged  classes  and  the  court,  desirous 
of  agitation  and  change,  all  had  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
revolution.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  the  movement  which  dis- 
turbed the  capital  of  France.  It  was  arising  from  the  repose  and 
silence  of  servitude;  it  was,  as  it  were,  astonished  at  the  novelty 
of  its  situation,  and  intoxicated  with  liberty  and  enthusiasm.  The 
press  excited  the  public  mind,  the  newspapers  published  the  debates 
of  the  assembly,  and  enabled  the  public  to  be  present,  so  to  speak, 
at  its  deliberations,  and  the  questions  mooted  in  its  bosom  were 
discussed  in  the  open  air,  in  the  public  squares.^  It  was  at  the 
Palais  Royal,^  more  especially,  that  the  assembly  of  the  capital 
was  held.  The  garden  was  always  filled  by  a  crowd  that  seemed 
permanent,  though  continually  renewed.  A  table  answered  the 
purpose  of  the  tribune,  the  first  citizen  at  hand  became  the  orator; 
there  men  expatiated  on  the  dangers  that  threatened  the  country, 
and  excited  each  other  to  resistance.  Already,  on  a  motion  made 
at  the  Palais  Royal,  the  prisons  of  the  Abbaye  had  been  broken 
open,  and  some  grenadiers  of  the  French  guards,  who  had  been 
imprisoned  for  refusing  to  fire  on  the  people,  released  in  triumph. 
This  outbreak  was  attended  by  no  consequences ;  a  deputation  had 
already  solicited,  in  behalf  of  the  delivered  prisoners,  the  interest 
of  the  assembly,  who  had  recommended  them  to  the  clemency  of 
the  king.  They  had  returned  to  prison,  and  had  received  pardon. 
But  this  regiment,  one  of  the  most  complete  and  bravest,  had 
become  favorable  to  the  popular  cause. 

^  On  the  state  of  Paris  at  this  time  see  Taine,  "  French  Revolution,"  vol.  I. 
ch.  ii. ;   Stephens,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.   I.  pp.   128-193. 

^  This  palace  is  still  standinj^  and  is  at  present  occupied  by  the  council 
of  state.  It  was  built  by  Cardinal  Richelieu.  After  his  death  it  became  the 
residence  of  Aime  of  Austria,  the  widow  of  Louis  XIII.  (died  1643)  ;  Louis 
XIV.  gave  it  to  his  brother,  Philip,  Duke  of  Orleans,  from  which  time  it  was 
known  as  the  Palais  Royal.  It  was  his  son,  a  second  Philip,  regent  of  France 
during  the  minority  of  Louis  XV.,  who  built  the  rows  of  shops  around  the 
garden,  which  he  rented  for  commercial  purposes.  These  still  exist  in  their 
original  form.  As  Philip  of  Orleans  was  notoriously  hostile  to  the  king,  the 
cafes  on  the  ground  tloor,  facing  the  garden,  early  became  a  rendezvous  of 
the  revolutionists. 


56  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

Such  was  the  disposition  of  Paris  when  the  court,  having 
estabhshed  troops  at  Versailles,  Sevres,  the  Champ  de  Mars,  and 
Saint  Denis,  thought  itself  able  to  execute  its  project.  It  com- 
menced, on  July  II,  by  the  banishment  of  Necker  and  the  complete 
reconstruction  of  the  ministry.  The  marshal  de  Broglie,  La 
Galissonniere,  the  Duke  de  la  Vauguyon,  the  Baron  de  Breteuil, 
and  the  intendant  Foulon  were  appointed  to  replace  Puysegur, 
Montmorin,  La  Luzerne,  Saint-Priest,  and  Necker.  The  latter  re- 
ceived, while  at  dinner  on  July  ii,  a  note  from  the  king  enjoining 
him  to  leave  the  country  immediately.  He  finished  dining  very 
calmly,  without  communicating  the  purport  of  the  order  he  had 
received,  and  then  got  into  his  carriage  with  Madame  Necker,  as 
if  intending  to  drive  to  Saint  Omer,  and  took  the  road  to  Brussels. 

On  the  following  day,  Sunday,  July  12,  about  four  in  the 
afternoon,  Necker's  disgrace  and  departure  became  known  at  Paris. 
This  measure  was  regarded  as  the  execution  of  the  plot  the  prep- 
arations for  which  had  so  long  been  observed.  In  a  short  time  the 
city  was  in  the  greatest  confusion ;  crowds  gathered  together  on 
every  side ;  more  than  ten  thousand  persons  flocked  to  the  Palais 
Royal,  all  afifected  by  this  news,  ready  for  anything,  but  not  know- 
ing what  measure  to  adopt.  Camille  Desmoulins,  a  young  man, 
more  daring  than  the  rest,  one  of  the  usual  orators  of  the  crowd, 
mounted  on  a  table,  pistol  in  hand,  exclaiming:  "  Citizens,  there  is 
no  time  to  lose;  the  dismissal  of  Necker  is  the  knell  of  a  Saint 
Bartholomew  for  patriots !  This  very  night  all  the  Swiss  and 
German  battalions  will  leave  the  Champ  de  Mars  to  massacre  us 
all ;  one  resource  is  left :  to  take  arms !  "  These  words  were  received 
with  violent  acclamations.  He  proposed  that  cockades  should  be 
worn  for  mutual  recognition  and  protection.  "  Shall  they  be 
green,"  he  cried,  "  the  color  of  hope;  or  red,  the  color  of  the  free 
order  of  Cincinnatus?  "  "Green!  green!"  shouted  the  multitude. 
The  speaker  descended  from  the  table  and  fastened  the  sprig  of  a 
tree  in  his  hat.  Everyone  imitated  him.  The  chestnut-trees  of 
the  palace  were  almost  stripped  of  their  leaves,  and  the  crowd  went 
in  tumult  to  the  house  of  the  sculptor  Curtius. 

Tliey  take  busts  of  Necker  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  a  report 
having  also  gone  abroad  that  the  latter  would  be  exiled,  and  cover- 
ing them  with  crape,  carry  them  in  triumph.  This  procession 
passes  through  the  streets  Saint  ^lartin.  Saint  Denis,  and  Saint 
Honore,  augmenting  at  every  step.     The  crowd  obliges  all  they 


^.\^^TI,T.E   np.SMori.ix 


rHK     CARDKV     (IF     TITK     PAf.AlS     KOYAL, 
JULY     12,     T7S0 
Paiiitiiifi    by    F.    J.    Bjrruis 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  67 

1789 

meet  to  take  off  their  hats.  Meeting  the  horse-patrol,  they  take 
them  as  their  escort.  The  procession  advances  in  this  way  to  the 
Place  Vendome,  and  there  they  carry  the  two  busts  twice  round 
the  statue  of  Louis  XIV.  A  detachment  of  the  Royal-allemand 
comes  up  and  attempts  to  disperse  the  mob,  but  are  put  to  flight  by 
a  shower  of  stones;  and  the  multitude,  continuing  its  course, 
reaches  the  Place  Louis  XV.  Here  they  are  assailed  by  the 
dragoons  of  the  Prince  de  Lambesc ;  after  resisting  a  few  moments 
they  are  thrown  into  confusion ;  the  bearer  of  one  of  the  busts  and 
a  soldier  of  one  of  the  French  guards  are  killed.  The  mob  dis- 
perses, part  toward  the  quays,  part  fall  back  on  the  boulevards,  the 
rest  hurry  to  the  Tuileries  by  the  Pont  Tournant.  The  Prince  de 
Lambesc,  at  the  head  of  his  horsemen,  with  drawn  saber  pursues 
them  into  the  gardens,  and  charges  an  unarmed  multitude  who 
were  peaceably  promenading,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  pro- 
cession. In  this  attack  an  old  man  is  wounded  by  a  saber  cut;  the 
mob  defend  themselves  with  the  seats,  and  rush  to  the  terraces; 
indignation  becomes  general ;  the  cry  To  arms !  soon  resounds  on 
every  side,  at  the  Palais  Royal  and  the  Tuileries,  in  the  city  and  in 
the  faubourgs. 

We  have  already  said  that  the  regiment  of  the  French  guard 
was  favorably  disposed  toward  the  people :  it  had  accordingly  been 
ordered  to  keep  in  barracks.  The  Prince  de  Lambesc,  fearing  that 
it  might  nevertheless  take  an  active  part,  ordered  sixty  dragoons  to 
station  themselves  before  its  depot,  situated  in  the  Chaussee-d'An- 
tin.  The  soldiers  of  the  guards,  already  dissatisfied  at  being  kept 
as  prisoners,  were  greatly  provoked  at  the  sight  of  these  strangers, 
with  whom  they  had  had  a  skirmish  a  few  days  before.  They 
wished  to  fly  to  arms,  and  their  officers,  using  alternately  threats 
and  entreaties,  had  much  difficulty  in  restraining  them.  But  they 
would  hear  no  more,  when  some  of  their  men  brought  them  intel- 
ligence of  the  attack  at  the  Tuileries,  and  the  death  of  one  of  their 
comrades :  they  seized  their  arms,  broke  open  the  gates,  and  drew 
up  in  battle  array  at  the  entrance  of  the  barracks,  and  cried 
out:  "Qui  vivc?" — "  Royal-allcmand." — "Are  you  for  the  third 
estate?  "  "  Wt  are  for  those  wlio  command  us."  Then  the  French 
guards  fired  on  them,  killed  two  of  their  men,  wounded  three,  and 
put  the  rest  to  flight.  They  then  advanced  at  quick  time  and  with 
fixed  bayonets  to  the  Place  Louis  XV.,  and  took  their  stand  be- 
tween the  Tuileries  and  the  Champs  Elysees,  the  people  and  the 


58  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

troops,  and  kept  that  past  during  the  night.  The  soldiers  of  the 
Champ  de  Mars  were  immediately  ordered  to  advance.  When 
they  readied  the  Champs  Elysees  the  French  guards  received  them 
with  discharges  of  musketry.  They  wished  to  make  them  fight, 
but  they  refused:  the  Petits-Suisses  were  the  first  to  give  this  ex- 
ample, which  the  other  regiments  followed.  The  officers,  in  despair, 
ordered  a  retreat ;  the  troops  retired  as  far  as  the  Grille  de  Chaillot, 
whence  they  soon  withdrew  into  the  Champ  de  Mars.  The  defec- 
tion of  the  French  guard,  and  the  manifest  refusal  even  of  the 
foreign  troops  to  march  on  the  capital,  caused  the  failure  of  the 
projects  of  tlie  court. 

During  the  evening  the  people  had  repaired  to  the  Hotel  de 
Ville,  and  requested  that  the  tocsin  might  be  sounded,  the  districts 
assembled,  and  the  citizens  armed.  Some  electors  assembled  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  and  took  the  authority  into  their  own  hands. 
They  rendered  great  service  to  their  fellow-citizens  and  the  cause 
of  liberty  by  their  courage,  prudence,  and  activity  during  these 
days  of  insurrection ;  but  in  the  first  confusion  of  the  rising  it  was 
with  difficulty  they  succeeded  in  making  themselves  heard.  The 
tumult  was  at  its  height ;  each  answered  only  the  dictates  of  his 
own  passions.  Side  by  side  wnth  well-disposed  citizens  were  men 
of  suspicious  character,  wdio  only  sought  in  insurrection  opportuni- 
ties for  pillage  and  disorder.  Bands  of  laborers  employed  by  the 
government  in  the  public  works,  for  the  most  part  without  home  or 
substance,  burned  the  barriers,  infested  the  streets,  plundered 
houses,  and  obtained  the  name  of  brigands.  The  night  of  the 
I2th  and  13th  was  spent  in  tumult  and  alarm. 

The  departure  of  Necker,  which  threw  the  capital  into  this 
state  of  excitement,  had  no  less  effect  at  Versailles  and  in  the  as- 
sembly. It  caused  the  same  astonishment  and  discontent.  The 
deputies  rejjaired  early  in  the  morning  to  the  hall  of  the  states :  they 
were  gloomy,  but  their  silence  arose  from  indignation  rather  than 
dejection.  "  At  the  opening  of  the  session,"  said  a  deputy,  "  sev- 
eral addresses  of  adherence  to  the  decrees  were  listened  to  in 
mournful  silence  by  the  assembly,  more  attentive  to  their  own 
thouglits  than  to  the  addresses  read."  Mounier  began;  he  ex- 
claimed against  the  dismission  of  ministers  beloved  by  the  nation, 
and  the  choice  of  their  successors.  He  proposed  an  address  to  the 
king  demanding-  tlieir  recall,  showing  him  the  dangers  attendant 
on   violent  measures,  the  misfortunes  that  would   follow  the  em- 


THE     S  T  A  T  E  S  -  G  E  N  E  R  A  L  59 

1789 

ployment  of  troops,  and  telling  him  that  the  assembly  solemnly 
opposed  itself  to  an  infamous  national  bankruptcy.  At  these  words, 
the  feelings  of  the  assembly,  hitherto  restrained,  broke  out  in  clap- 
ping of  hands  and  cries  of  approbation.  Lally-Tollendal,  a  friend 
of  Necker,  then  came  forward  with  a  sorrowful  air,  and  delivered 
a  long  and  eloquent  eulogium  on  the  banished  minister.  He  was 
listened  to  with  the  greatest  interest;  his  grief  responded  to  that 
of  the  public;  the  cause  of  Necker  was  now  that  of  the  country. 
The  nobility  itself  sided  with  the  members  of  the  third  estate,  either 
considering  the  danger  common,  or  dreading  to  incur  the  same 
blame  as  the  court  if  it  did  not  disapprove  its  conduct,  or  perhaps 
it  obeyed  the  general  impulse. 

A  noble  deputy,  the  Count  de  Virieu,  set  the  example,  and 
said :  "  Assembled  for  the  constitution,  let  us  make  the  constitu- 
tion; let  us  tighten  our  mutual  bonds;  let  us  renew,  confirm,  and 
consecrate  the  glorious  decrees  of  June  17;  let  us  join  in  the  cele- 
brated resolution  made  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month.  Let  us  all, 
yes,  all,  all  the  united  orders,  swear  to  be  faithful  to  those  illustri- 
ous decrees  which  now  can  alone  save  the  kingdom."  "  The  con- 
stitution shall  be  made,  or  we  will  cease  to  be,"  added  the  Duke  de 
la  Rochefoucauld.  But  this  unanimity  became  still  more  confirmed 
when  the  rising  of  Paris,  the  excesses  which  ensued,  the  burning  of 
the  barriers,  the  assembling  of  the  electors  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the 
confusion  of  the  capital,  and  the  fact  that  citizens  were  ready  to  be 
attacked  by  the  soldiers  or  to  slaughter  each  other,  became  known 
to  the  assembly.  Then  one  cry  resounded  through  the  hall :  "  Let 
the  recollection  of  our  momentary  divisions  be  effaced !  Let  us 
unite  our  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  the  country!"  A  deputation 
was  immediately  sent  to  the  king,  composed  of  eighty  members, 
among  whom  were  all  the  deputies  of  Paris.  The  Archbishop  of 
Vienne.  president  of  the  assembly,  was  at  its  head.  It  was  to  rep- 
resent to  the  king  the  dangers  that  threatened  the  capital,  the 
necessity  of  sending  away  the  troo]:)S.  and  intrusting  the  care  of 
the  city  to  a  militia  of  citizens;  and  if  it  obtained  these  demands 
from  the  king,  a  deputation  was  to  be  sent  to  Paris  with  the  con- 
solatory intelligence.  But  the  members  soon  returned  with  an 
unsatisfactory  answer. 

Tlie  assembly  now  saw  that  it  must  depend  on  itself,  and  that 
tlie  projects  of  the  court  were  irrcvrtcably  fixed.  Far  from  being 
discouraged,   it  only  became    more  firm,    and    immediately  voted 


60  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

unanimously  a  decree  proclaiming  the  responsibility  of  the  present 
ministers  of  the  king,  and  of  all  his  counselors,  of  whatever  rank 
they  might  be;  it  further  passed  a  vote  of  regret  for  Necker  and 
the  other  disgraced  ministers;  it  resolved  that  it  would  not  cease 
to  insist  upon  the  dismissal  of  the  troops  and  the  establishment  of 
a  militia  of  citizens;  it  placed  the  public  debt  under  the  safeguard 
of  French  honor,  and  adhered  to  all  its  previous  decrees.  After 
these  measures,  it  adopted  a  last  one,  not  less  necessary;  appre- 
hending that  the  hall  of  the  states  might,  during  the  night,  be 
occupied  by  a  military  force  for  the  purpose  of  dispersing  the 
assembly,  it  resolved  to  sit  permanently  till  further  orders.  It 
decided  that  a  portion  of  the  members  should  sit  during  the  night, 
and  another  relieve  them  early  in  the  morning.  To  spare  the 
venerable  Archbishop  of  Vienne  the  fatigue  of  a  permanent  presi- 
dency, a  vice-president  was  appointed  to  supply  his  place  on  these 
extraordinary  occasions.  Lafayette  was  elected  to  preside  over 
the  night  sitting.  It  passed  off  without  a  debate,  the  deputies 
remaining  in  their  seats,  observing  silence,  but  apparently  calm  and 
serene.  It  was  by  these  measures,  this  expression  of  public  regret, 
by  these  decrees,  this  unanimous  enthusiasm,  this  sustained  good 
sense,  this  inflexible  conduct,  that  the  assembly  rose  gradually  to  a 
level  with  its  dangers  and  its  mission. 

On  the  13th  the  insurrection  took  at  Paris  a  more  regular 
character.  Early  in  the  morning  the  populace  flocked  to  the  Hotel 
de  Ville ;  the  tocsin  was  sounded  there  and  in  all  the  churches ;  and 
drums  were  beat  in  the  streets  to  call  the  citizens  together.  The 
public  places  soon  became  thronged.  Troops  were  formed  under 
the  titles  of  volunteers  of  the  Palais  Royal,  volunteers  of  the 
Tuileries,  of  the  Basoche,  and  of  the  Arquebuse.  The  districts  ^'^ 
assembled,  and  each  of  them  voted  two  hundred  men  for  its  de- 
fense. Arms  alone  were  wanting,  and  these  were  eagerly  sought 
wherever  there  was  any  hope  of  finding  them.  All  that  could  be 
found  at  the  gunsmiths'  and  sword-cutlers'  were  taken,  receipts 
being  sent  to  the  owners.  They  applied"  for  arms  at  the  Hotel  de 
Ville.  The  electors,  who  were  still  assembled,  replied  in  vain  that 
tliey  had  none:  they  insisted  on  having  them.  The  electors  then 
sent  the  head  of  the  city,  Flesselles.  the  provost  of  the  merchants, ^^ 

^'^  Mignet  has  anticipated  one  of  the  features  of  the  reorganization  rf  Pariy 
after   the   fall    of  the   Rastile.     Old    Paris   was   divided    into    fanhnurgs, 

1^  The  provost  of  the  merchants  was  the  mayor  of  Paris;   he  was  assisted 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  61 

1789 

who  alone  knew  the  military  state  of  the  capital,  and  whose  popular 
authority  promised  to  be  of  great  assistance  in  this  difficult  conjunc- 
ture. He  was  received  with  loud  applause  by  the  multitude.  "  My 
friends,"  said  he,  "I  am  your  father;  you  shall  be  satisfied."  A 
permanent  committee  was  formed  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  to  take 
measures  for  the  general  safety. 

About  the  same  time  it  was  announced  that  the  Maison  des 
Lazaristes/"  w-hich  contained  a  large  quantity  of  grain,  had  been 
despoiled ;  that  the  Garde-Meuble  ^^  had  been  forced  open  to  obtain 
old  arms,  and  that  the  gunsmiths'  shops  had  been  plundered.  The 
greatest  excesses  were  apprehended  from  the  crowd ;  it  was  let 
loose,  and  it  seemed  difficult  to  master  its  fury.  But  this  was  a 
moment  of  enthusiasm  and  disinterestedness.  The  mob  itself  dis- 
armed suspected  characters ;  not  a  single  house  w^as  plundered, 
and  the  carriages  and  vehicles  filled  with  provisions,  furniture, 
and  utensils,  stopped  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  were  taken  to  the 
Place  de  Greve,  which  became  a  vast  depot.  Here  the  crowd  in- 
creased every  moment,  shouting  Arms !  It  was  now  about  one 
o'clock.  The  provost  of  the  merchants  then  announced  the  imme- 
diate arrival  of  twelve  thousand  guns  from  the  manufactory  of 
Charleville,  which  would  soon  be  followed  by  thirty  thousand 
more. 

This  appeased  the  people  for  some  time,  and  the  committee 
was  enabled  to  pursue  quietly  its  task  of  organizing  a  militia  of 
citizens.  In  less  than  four  hours  the  plan  was  drawn  up,  discussed, 
adopted,  printed,  and  proclaimed.  It  was  resolved  that  the  Parisian 
guard  should,  till  further  orders,  be  increased  to  forty-eight  thou- 
sand men.  All  citizens  were  invited  to  enroll  their  names ; 
every  district  had  its  battalion;  every  battalion  its  leaders; 
the  command  of  this  army  of  citizens  was  offered  to  the  Duke 

in  the  government  by  four  echevins  (aldermen)  and  twenty-four  conseillers 
(common  councilmen),  elected  by  the  guilds  and  confirmed  by  the  king.  The 
origin  of  this  form  of  government  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  all  municipal 
government  in  the  Middle  Ages  developed  out  of  the  guild  system,  sometimes 
a  merchant  guild,  as  at  Paris,  sometimes  a  craft  guild,  as  was  frequently  the 
case  in  Italian  cities.     On  Paris  see  Monin,  "  fit  at  de  Paris  en  l^Sg,"  p.  497  ff. 

^-  Founded  by  the  Lazarists  in  the  seventeenth  century  as  a  leper  hospital, 
but  it  was  also  used  as  a  prison.  The  report  turned  out  to  be  untrue.  The 
mob  stole  nothing  at  the  hospital.  Cf.  a  letter  of  Thomas  Jefferson  to  John 
Jay,  July  19,  T789,  in  his  "Works,"  vol.  IT.  p.  309. 

'"The  crown  jewels  were  kept  here.  They  disappeared  during  the  mas- 
sacres of  September,  1792. 


62  THE     F  R  E  N  (MI     R  E  V  O  E  U  T  I  0  N 

1789 

d'Aumont,  who  required  twenty-four  hours  to  decide.  In  the 
meantime  the  Marquis  de  la  Salle  was  appointed  second  in  com- 
mand. The  green  cockade  was  then  exchanged  for  a  blue  and  red 
one,  which  were  the  colors  of  the  city.  All  this  was  the  work  of 
a  few  hours.  The  districts  gave  their  assent  to  the  measures 
adopted  by  the  permanent  committee.  The  clerks  of  the  Chatelet, 
those  of  the  Palais,  medical  students,  soldiers  of  the  watch,  and 
what  was  of  still  greater  value,  the  French  guards,  offered  their 
services  to  the  assembly.  Patrols  began  to  be  formed  and  to  per- 
ambulate the  streets. 

The  people  waited  with  impatience  the  realization  of  the 
promise  of  the  provost  of  the  merchants,  but  no  guns  arrived ; 
evening  approached,  and  they  feared  during  the  night  another 
attack  from  the  troops.  They  thought  they  were  betrayed  when 
they  heard  of  an  attempt  to  convey  secretly  from  Paris  five  thou- 
sand weight  of  powder,  which  had  been  intercepted  by  the  people 
at  the  barriers.  But  soon  after  some  cases  arrived,  labeled 
artillery.  At  this  sight,  the  commotion  subsided :  the  cases  were 
escorted  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  it  being  supposed  that  they  contained 
the  guns  expected  from  Charleville.  On  opening  them  they  were 
found  to  contain  old  linen  and  pieces  of  wood.  A  cry  of  treachery 
arose  on  every  side,  mingled  with  murmurs  and  threats  against  the 
committee  and  the  provost  of  the  merchants.  The  latter  apolo- 
gized, declaring  he  had  been  deceived ;  and  to  gain  time,  or  to  get 
rid  of  the  crowd,  sent  them  to  the  Chartreux,  to  seek  for  arms. 
Finding  none  there,  the  mob  returned,  enraged  and  mistrustful. 
The  committee  then  felt  satisfied  there  was  no  other  way  of  arming 
Paris,  and  curing  the  suspicions  of  the  people,  than  by  forging 
pikes;  and  accordingly  gave  orders  that  fifty  thousand  should  be 
made  immediately.  To  avoid  the  excesses  of  the  preceding  night, 
the  town  was  illuminated,  and  patrols  marched  through  it  in  every 
direction. 

The  next  day  the  people,  who  had  been  unable  to  obtain  arms 
on  the  preceding  day,  came  early  in  the  morning  to  solicit  some 
from  the  committee,  blaming  its  refusal  and  failures  of  the  day 
before.  The  committee  had  sent  for  some  in  vain ;  none  had 
arrived  from  Charleville,  none  were  to  be  found  at  the  Chartreux, 
and  the  arsenal  itself  was  empty. 

The  mob,  no  longer  satisfied  with  excuses,  and  more  convinced 
than  ever  that  they  were  betrayed,  hurried  in  a  mass  to  the  Hotel 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  63 

1789 

des  Invalides/*  which  contained  a  considerable  depot  of  arms.  It 
displayed  no  fear  of  the  troops  established  in  the  Champ  de  Mars, 
broke  into  the  Hotel,  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  of  the  governor, 
De  Sombreuil,  found  twenty-eight  thousand  guns  concealed  in  the 
cellars,  seized  them,  took  all  the  sabers,  swords,  and  cannon,  and 
carried  them  off  in  triumph.  The  cannon  were  placed  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  faubourgs,  at  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  on  the 
quays  and  on  the  bridges,  for  the  defense  of  the  capital  against  the 
invasion  of  troops,  which  was  expected  every  moment. 

Even  during  the  same  morning  an  alarm  was  given  that  the 
regiments  stationed  at  Saint  Denis  were  on  the  march,  and  that 
the  cannon  of  the  Bastile  were  pointed  on  the  Rue  Saint  Antoine. 
The  committee  immediately  sent  to  ascertain  the  truth,  appointed 
bands  of  citizens  to  defend  that  side  of  the  town,  and  sent  a  depu- 
tation to  the  governor  of  the  Bastile,  soliciting  him  to  withdraw 
his  cannon  and  engage  in  no  act  of  hostility.^''  This  alarm,  to- 
gether with  the  dread  which  that  fortress  inspired,  the  hatred  felt 
for  the  abuses  it  shielded,  the  importance  of  possessing  so  promi- 
nent a  point,  and  of  not  leaving  it  in  the  power  of  the  enemy  in  a 
moment  of  insurrection,  drew  the  attention  of  the  populace  in  that 
direction.  From  nine  in  the  morning  till  tv/o  the  only  rallying 
word  throughout  Paris  was  "a  la  Bastile!  a  la  Bastile."  The 
citizens  hastened  thither  in  bands  from  all  quarters,  armed  with 
guns,  pikes,  and  sabers. ^°  The  crowd  which  already  surrounded  it 
was  considerable ;  the  sentinels  of  the  fortress  were  at  their  posts, 
and  the  drawbridges  raised  as  in  war. 

A  deputy  of  the  district  of  Saint  Louis  de  la  Culture,  named 
Thuriot  de  la  Rosiere,  then  requested  a  parley  with  Delaunay,  the 
governor.  \Mien  admitted  to  his  presence  he  summoned  him  to 
change  the  direction  of  the  cannon.     The  governor  replied  that  the 

1*  The  Hotel  dcs  Invalides  was  a  soldiers'  hospital,  founded  by  Louis  XIV. 
in  1670,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine  near  the  Champ  de  Mars. 

i""  This  deputation  came  to  see  Delaunay,  the  commandant,  at  eight  o'clock 
in  tlie  morning.  Delaunay  received  them  courteously  and  invited  them  to 
breakfast.     He  withdrew  the  cannon  from  the  embrasures. 

i'"'This  is  an  exaggeration.  Dr.  Rigby,  an  Englishman,  in  Paris  at  this  time, 
records  in  his  "  Journal '" :  "We  had  gon.e  to  see  the  gardens  of  Monceaux  in 
the  afternoon,  and  on  our  return  at  5  v.  m.  met  a  regiment  of  soldiers  .  .  . 
learned  that  the  Bastile  had  been  attacked  .  .  .  ran  down  the  Rue  St. 
llonore.  at  the  (east)  end  of  which  we  met  the  victors  of  the  Bastile,"  p.  59. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  tl'.ere  was  ^o  nn:ch  din  of  arms  all  over  the  city,  due  to 
riotous  bands  or  citizens  at  target  practice,  tliat  Paris  as  a  whole  probably  was 
not  aware  of  the  attack  upon  the  Bastile  until  it  was  over. 


64  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1789 


cannon  had  always  been  placed  on  the  towers,  and  it  was  not  in 
his  power  to  remove  them ;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  having  heard  of 
the  alarm  prevalent  among  the  Parisians,  he  had  had  them  with- 
drawn a  few  paces,  and  taken  out  of  the  port-holes.  With  some 
difficulty  Thuriot  obtained  permission  to  enter  the  fortress  further, 
and  examine  if  its  condition  was  really  as  satisfactory  for  the  town 
as  the  governor  represented  it  to  be.  As  he  advanced  he  observed 
three  pieces  of  cannon  pointed  on  the  avenues  leading  to  the  open 
space  before  the  fortress,  and  ready  to  sweep  those  who  might 
attempt  to  attack  it.  About  forty  Swiss  and  eighty  Invalides  were 
under  arms.  Thuriot  urged  them,  as  well  as  the  staff  of  the  place, 
in  the  name  of  honor  and  of  their  country,  not  to  act  as  the  enemies 
of  the  people.  Both  officers  and  soldiers  swore  they  would  not 
make  use  of  their  arms  unless  attacked.  Thuriot  then  ascended  the 
towers,  and  perceived  a  crowd  gathering  in  all  directions,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Faubourg  Saint  Antoine,  who  were  rising  in  a 
mass.  The  multitude  without,  not  seeing  him  return,  were  already 
demanding  him  with  great  clamor.  To  satisfy  the  people  he  ap- 
peared on  the  parapet  of  the  fortress,  and  was  received  with  loud 
applause  from  the  gardens  of  the  arsenal.  He  then  rejoined  his 
party,  and  having  informed  them  of  the  result  of  his  mission, 
proceeded  to  the  committee. 

But  the  impatient  crowd  now  clamored  for  the  surrender  of 
the  Bastile.  From  time  to  time  the  cry  arose,  "  The  Bastile !  w^e 
will  have  the  Bastile!"  At  length,  two  men,  more  determined 
than  the  rest,  darting  from  the  crowd,  sprang  on  a  guard-house 
and  struck  at  the  chains  of  the  drawbridge  with  heavy  hatchets. 
The  soldiers  shouted  to  them  to  retire,  and  threatened  to  fire ;  but 
they  continued  to  strike,  succeeded  in  breaking  the  chains  and  low- 
ering the  bridge,  and  then  rushed  over  it,  followed  by  the  crowd. 
In  this  way  they  advanced  to  cut  the  chains  of  the  second  bridge. 
The  garrison  now  dispersed  them  with  a  discharge  of  musketry. 
They  returned,  however,  to  the  attack,  and  for  several  hours  their 
efforts  were  confined  to  the  second  bridge,  the  approach  to  which 
was  defended  by  a  ceaseless  fire  from  the  fortress.  The  mob,  in- 
furiated by  this  obstinate  resistance,  tried  to  break  in  the  gates 
with  hatchets,  and  to  set  fire  to  the  guard-house.  A  murderous 
discharge  of  grape-shot  proceeded  from  the  garrison,  and  many 
of  the  besiegers  were  killed  and  wounded.  They  only  became  the 
more  determined,  and,  seconded  by  the  daring  and  determination 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  65 

1789 

of  the  two  brave  men,  Elie  and  HuHn,  who  were  at  their  head, 
they  continued  the  attack  with  fury. 

The  committee  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  were  in  a  state  of  great 
anxiety.  The  siege  of  the  Bastile  seemed  to  them  a  very  rash 
enterprise.  They  ever  and  anon  received  intelhgence  of  the  dis- 
asters that  had  taken  place  before  the  fortress.  They  wavered 
between  fear  of  the  troops  should  they  prove  victorious,  and  that 
of  the  multitude  who  clamored  for  ammunition  to  continue  the 
siege.  As  they  could  not  give  what  they  did  not  possess,  the  mob 
cried  treachery.  Two  deputations  had  been  sent  by  the  committee 
for  the  purpose  of  discontinuing  hostilities,  and  inviting  the  gov- 
ernor to  confide  the  keeping  of  the  place  to  the  citizens ;  but  in  the 
midst  of  the  tumult,  the  cries,  and  the  firing  they  could  not  make 
themselves  heard.  A  third  was  sent,  carrying  a  drum  and  banner, 
that  it  might  be  more  easily  distinguished,  but  it  experienced  no 
better  fortune :  neither  side  would  listen  to  anything.  The  assem- 
bly at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  notwithstanding  its  efforts  and  activity, 
still  incurred  the  suspicions  of  the  populace.  The  provost  of  the 
merchants,  especially,  excited  the  greatest  mistrust.  "  He  has  al- 
ready deceived  us  several  times  during  the  day,"  said  one.  "  He 
talks,"  said  another,  "  of  opening  a  trench ;  he  only  wants  to  gain 
time,  to  make  us  lose  ours."  Then  an  old  man  cried :  "  Comrades, 
why  do  you  listen  to  traitors?  Forward,  follow  me!  In  less  than 
two  hours  the  Bastile  will  be  taken !  " 

The  siege  had  lasted  more  than  four  hours  when  the  French 
guards  arrived  with  cannon.  Their  arrival  changed  the  appear- 
ance of  the  combat.  The  garrison  itself  begged  the  governor  to 
yield.  The  unfortunate  Delaunay,  dreading  the  fate  that  awaited 
him,  wished  to  blow  up  the  fortress,  and  bury  himself  under  its 
ruins  and  those  of  the  faubourg.  He  went  in  despair  toward  the 
powder  magazine  with  a  lighted  match  in  his  hand.  The  garrison 
stopped  him,  raised  a  white  standard  on  the  platform,  and  reversed 
the  guns,  in  token  of  peace.  But  the  assailants  still  continued  to 
fight  and  advance,  shouting  "  Lower  tlie  bridges !  "  Through  the 
battlements  a  Swiss  officer  proposed  to  capitulate,  with  permission 
to  retire  from  tlie  building  with  the  honors  of  war.  "No!  no!" 
clamored  the  crowd.  The  same  officer  proposed  to  lay  down  arms, 
on  the  promise  that  their  lives  should  be  spared.  "  Lower  the 
bridge,"  rejoined  the  foremost  of  the  assailants,  "  you  shall  not  be 
injured."     The  gates  were  opened  and  the  bridge  lowered,  on  this 


66  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

assurance,  and  the  crowd  rushed  into  the  Bastile.  Those  who  led 
the  multitude  wished  to  save  from  its  vengeance  the  governor, 
Swiss  soldiers,  and  Invahdes;  but  cries  of  "Give  them  up!  give 
them  up!  they  fired  on  their  fellow-citizens,  they  deserve  to  be 
hanged !  "  rose  on  every  side.  The  governor,  a  few  Swiss  soldiers 
and  Invalides  v/ere  torn  from  the  protection  of  those  who  sought 
to  defend  them,  and  put  to  death  by  the  implacable  crowd. ^'^ 

The  permanent  committee  knew  nothing  of  the  issue  of  the 
combat.  The  hall  of  the  sittings  was  invaded  by  a  furious  multi- 
tude, who  threatened  the  provost  of  the  merchants  and  electors. 
Flesselles  began  to  be  alarmed  at  his  position;  he  was  pale  and 
agitated.  The  object  of  the  most  violent  reproaches  and  threats, 
they  obliged  him  to  go  from  the  hall  of  the  committee  to  the  hall 
of  the  general  assembly,  where  a  great  crowd  of  citizens  was  as- 
sembled. "  Let  him  come ;  let  him  follow  us,"  resounded  from  all 
sides.  "  This  is  too  much !  "  rejoined  Flesselles.  "  Let  us  go,  since 
they  request  it ;  let  us  go  where  I  am  expected."  They  had  scarcely 
reached  the  great  hall,  when  the  attention  of  the  multitude  was 
drawn  off  by  shouts  on  the  Place  de  Greve.  They  heard  the  cries 
of  "Victory!  victory!  liberty!"  It  was  the  arrival  of  the  con- 
querors of  the  Bastile  which  this  announced.  They  themselves 
soon  entered  the  hall  with  the  most  noisy  and  tlie  most  fearful 
pomp.  The  persons  who  had  most  distinguished  themselves  were 
carried  in  triumph,  crowned  with  laurels.     They  were  escorted  by 

1"  Thuriot,  their  leader,  was  a  lawyer  who  became  a  member  both  of 
the  legislative  assembly  and  of  the  convention.  He  survived  the  revolution  and 
became  a  minor  official  under  the  empire.  He  came  with  no  mandate,  as  was  the 
case  with  the  commission  which  came  earlier  to  Delaunay,  and  pushing  his  way 
in  began  to  make  a  political  harangue  to  the  soldiers.  While  he  busied  himself 
within,  the  crowd  had  multiplied  on  the  outside.  The  garrison  was  composed 
of  ninety-five  Invalides,  and  thirty-two  Swiss,  with  fifteen  cannon,  only  one 
of  which,  that  commanding  the  drawbridge,  was  fired.  Moreover,  Delaunay  kept 
hi?  word.  The  mob  had  broken  the  chains  which  let  the  outer  drawbridge  fall, 
and  were  in  the  second  court,  themselves  directing  a  heavy  fire  upon  tlie 
garrison,  before  Delaunay  gave  the  word.  The  "  murderous  discharge  of  grapt- 
^hot"  was  fired  clearly  in  the  line  of  duty.  See  Funck-Brentano,  "  Lcgcndcs  ct 
archives  de  la  Bastile"  (1898),  pp.  250-255.  This  author,  who  is  custodian  of 
the  archives  at  the  arsenal,  has  stripped  off  the  myih  and  legend  which  has 
gathered  around  the  history  of  this  famous  day. 

It  cannot  truthfully  be  said  that  the  Bastile  was  taken;  Elie  and  Hutin 
did  their  best  to  keep  their  promise  and  to  protect  the  garrison,  if  it  would 
surrender.  Ninety-si.x  of  the  mob  were  killed  on  this  day  or  died  afterward 
of  injuries  then  received.  Delaunay's  body  was  hacked  into  pieces  and  carried 
about  tlie  streets. 


IN  'niK  LOW  i:sT   ])rX(,K()X   hf  the  p.astile 

Piiiiituti:    by    P.    Jiiiirii' 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  67 

1789 

more  than  fifteen  hundred  men,  with  glaring-  eyes  and  disheveled 
hair,  with  all  kinds  of  arms,  pressing  one  upon  another,  and  mak- 
ing the  flooring  yield  beneath  their  feet.  One  carried  the  keys  and 
standard  of  the  Bastile;  another,  its  regulations  suspended  to  his 
bayonet;  a  third,  with  horrible  barbarity,  raised  in  his  bleeding 
hand  the  buckle  of  the  governor's  stock.  With  this  parade,  the 
procession  of  the  conquerors  of  the  Bastile,  followed  by  an  im- 
mense crowd  that  thronged  the  quays,  entered  the  hall  of  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  to  inform  the  committee  of  their  triumph,  and  decide  the 
fate  of  the  prisoners  who  survived.  A  few  wished  to  leave  it  to 
the  committee,  but  others  shouted :  "  No  quarter  for  the  prisoners ! 
No  quarter  for  the  men  who  fired  on  their  fellow-citizens!"  La 
Salle,  the  commandant,  the  elector  Moreau  de  Saint-Mery,  and  the 
brave  Elie  succeeded  in  appeasing  the  multitude,  and  obtained  a 
general  amnesty. 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  the  unfortunate  Flesselles.  It  is  said 
that  a  letter  found  on  Delaunay  proved  the  treachery  of  which  he 
was  suspected.  "  I  am  amusing  the  Parisians,"  he  wrote,  "  with 
cockades  and  promises.  Hold  out  till  the  evening,  and  you  shall 
be  reinforced."  The  mob  hurried  to  his  office.  The  more  mod- 
erate demanded  that  he  should  be  arrested  and  confined  in  the 
Chatelet ;  but  others  opposed  this,  saying  that  he  should  be  con- 
veyed to  the  Palais  Royal,  and  there  tried.  This  decision  gave  gen- 
eral satisfaction.  "To  the  Palais  Royal!  To  the  Palais  Royal!" 
resounded  from  ever}'  side.  "  Well — be  it  so,  gentlemen,"  replied 
Flesselles,  with  composure ;  "  let  us  go  to  the  Palais  Royal."  So 
saying,  he  descended  the  steps,  passed  through  the  crowd,  which 
opened  to  make  way  for  him,  and  which  followed  without  offering 
him  any  violence.  But  at  the  comer  of  the  Quay  Pelletier  a 
stranger  rushed  forward  and  killed  him  with  a  pistol-shot.^** 

After  these  scenes  of  war,  tumult,  dispute,  and  vengeance,  the 
Parisians,  fearing,  from  some  intercepted  letters,  that  an  attack 
would  be  made  during  the  night,  pre])ared  to  receive  the  enemy. ^^ 
The  whole  population  joined  in  tlie  labor  of  fortifying  the  town ; 
tliey  formed  barricades,  opened  intrencliments,  unpaved  streets, 
forged  pikes,  and  cast  bullets.  Women  carried  stones  to  the  tops 
of  the  liouses  to  crush  tlie  soldiers  as  tliey  passed.     The  national 

^^  I'"icsselles,  like  Dclauna}-,  had  only  tried  to  do  his  duty  and  suppress 
the  anarchy. 

'^  Tin's  was  no  more  than  a  natural  rumor.  The  "letters''  have  never 
come  to  light. 


68  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

"guard  were  distributed  in  posts;  Paris  seemed  changed  into  an 
immense  foundry  and  a  vast  camp,  and  the  whole  night  was  spent 
under  arms,  expecting  the  conflict. 

While  the  insurrection  assumed  this  violent,  permanent,  and 
serious  character  at  Paris,  what  was  doing  at  Versailles?  The 
court  was  preparing  to  realize  its  designs  against  the  capital  and 
assembly.  The  night  of  the  14th  was  fixed  upon  for  their  execu- 
tion. The  Baron  de  Breteuil,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  ministry, 
had  promised  to  restore  the  royal  authority  in  three  days.  Marshal 
de  Broglie,  commander  of  the  army  collected  around  Paris,  had 
received  unlimited  powers  of  all  kinds.  On  the  15th  the  declara- 
tion of  June  23  was  to  be  renewed,  and  the  king,  after  forcing  the 
assembly  to  adopt  it,  was  to  dissolve  it.  Forty  thousand  copies  of 
this  declaration  were  in  readiness  to  be  circulated  throughout  the 
kingdom ;  and  to  meet  the  pressing  necessities  of  the  treasury  more 
than  a  hundred  millions  of  paper  money  was  created.  The  move- 
ment in  Paris,  so  far  from  thwarting  the  court,  favored  its  views. 
To  the  last  moment  it  looked  upon  it  as  a  passing  tumult  that  might 
easily  be  suppressed ;  it  believed  neither  in  its  perseverance  nor  in 
its  success,  and  it  did  not  seem  possible  to  it  that  a  town  of  citizens 
could  resist  an  army. 

The  assembly  was  apprised  of  these  projects.  For  two  days 
it  had  sat  without  interruption,  in  a  state  of  great  anxiety  and 
alarm.  It  was  ignorant  of  the  greater  portion  of  what  was  passing 
in  Paris.  At  one  time  it  was  announced  that  the  insurrection  was 
general,  and  that  all  Paris  was  marching  on  Versailles ;  then  that 
the  troops  were  advancing  on  the  capital.  They  fancied  they  heard 
cannon,  and  they  placed  their  ears  to  the  ground  to  assure  them- 
selves. On  the  evening  of  the  14th  it  was  announced  that  the  king 
intended  to  depart  during  the  night,  and  that  the  assembly  would 
be  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  foreign  regiments.  This  last  alarm  was 
not  without  foundation.  A  carriage  and  horses  were  kept  in  readi- 
ness-, and  the  body-guard  remained  booted  for  several  days.  Be- 
sides, at  the  Orangery,  a  terrace  adjoining  the  Tuileries,  incidents 
truly  alarming  took  place ;  the  troops  were  prepared  and  stimulated 
for  their  expedition  by  distributions  of  wine  and  by  encouragements. 
Everything  announced  that  a  decisive  moment  had  arrived. 

Despite  the  approaching  and  increasing  danger,  the  assembly 
was  unshaken,  aud  persisted  in  its  first  resolutions.  Mirabeau, 
who  had  first  require;!  tlie  dismissal  of  the  troops,  now  arranged 


T  H  p:    s  t  a  t  e  s  -  g  e  n  e  r  a  L  69 

1789 

another  deputation.  It  was  on  the  point  of  setting  out  when  the 
Viscount  de  Noailles,  a  deputy,  just  arrived  from  Paris,  informed 
the  assembly  of  the  progress  of  the  insurrection,  the  pillage  of  the 
Invalides,  the  arming  of  the  people,  and  the  siege  of  the  Bastile. 
Wimpfen,  another  deputy,  to  this  account  added  that  of  the  per- 
sonal dangers  he  had  incurred,  and  assured  them  that  the  fury  of 
the  populace  was  increasing  with  its  peril.  The  assembly  proposed 
the  establishment  of  couriers  to  bring  them  intelligence  every  half 
hour.  Ganilh  and  Bancal-des-Issarts,  dispatched  by  the  committee 
at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  as  a  deputation  to  the  assembly,  con- 
firmed all  they  had  just  heard.  They  informed  them  of  the 
measures  taken  by  the  electors  to  secure  order  and  the  defense  of 
the  capital ;  the  disasters  that  had  happened  before  the  Bastile ;  the 
inutility  of  the  deputations  sent  to  the  governor,  and  told  them  that 
the  fire  of  the  garrison  had  surrounded  the  fortress  with  the  slain. 
A  cry  of  indignation  arose  in  the  assembly  at  this  intelligence,"" 
and  a  second  deputation  was  instantly  dispatched  to  communicate 
these  distressing  tidings  to  the  king.  The  first  returned  with  an 
unsatisfactory  answer ;  it  was  now  ten  at  night.  The  king,  on  learn- 
ing these  disastrous  events,  which  seemed  to  presage  others  still 
greater,  appeared  affected.  Struggling  against  the  part  he  had 
been  induced  to  adopt,  he  said  to  the  deputies :  "  You  rend  my  heart 
more  and  more  by  the  dreadful  news  you  bring  of  the  misfortunes 
of  Paris.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  the  orders  given  to  the 
troops  are  the  cause  of  these  disasters.  You  are  acquainted  with 
the  answer  I  returned  to  the  first  deputation;  I  have  nothing  to 
add  to  it."  This  answer  consisted  of  a  promise  that  the  troops  of 
the  Champ  de  Mars  should  be  sent  away  from  Paris,  and  of  an 
order  given  to  general  officers  to  assume  the  command  of  the  guard 
of  citizens.  Such  measures  were  not  sufficient  to  remedy  the  dan- 
gerous situation  in  which  men  were  placed ;  and  it  neither  satisfied 
nor  gave  confidence  to  the  assembly. 

Shortly  after  this  the  deputies  D'Ormesson  and  Duport  an- 
nounced to  the  assembly  the  taking  of  the  Bastile,  and  the  deaths 
of  Delaunay  and  Flesselles.  It  was  proposed  to  send  a  third  depu- 
tation to  the  king,  imploring  the  removal  of  the  troops,  "  No," 
said  Clermont-Tonnerre,  "  leave  them  the  night  to  consult  in;  kings 

-'"'  The  feeling  of  the  assembly  was  not  so  much  indignation  "  that  the  fire 
of  the  garrison  had  surrounded  the  fortress  with  the  slain,"  as  anxiety  over  the 
state  of  spontaneous  anarchy  which  prevailed. 


70  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

must  buy  experience  as  well  as  other  men."  In  this  way  the  assem- 
bly spent  the  night.  On  the  following  morning  another  deputation 
was  appointed  to  represent  to  the  king  the  misfortunes  that  would 
follow  a  longer  refusal.  When  on  the  point  of  starting,  Alirabeau 
stopped  it.  "  Tell  him,"  he  exclaimed,  "  tliat  the  hordes  of 
strangers  who  in\'est  us,  received  yesterday  visits,  caresses,  ex- 
hortations, and  presents  from  the  princes,  princesses,  and  favorites ; 
tell  him  that,  during  the  night,  these  foreign  satellites,  gorged  with 
gold  and  wine,  predicted  in  their  impious  songs  the  subjection  of 
F" ranee,  and  invoked  the  destruction  of  the  national  assembly;  tell 
him  that,  in  his  own  palace,  courtiers  danced  to  the  sound  of  that 
barbarous  music,  and  that  such  was  the  prelude  to  the  massacre'  of 
Saint  Bartholomew !  Tell  him  that  the  Henry  whose  memory  is 
universe-known,  he,  w'hom  of  his  ancestors  he  said  he  would  make 
his  model,  sent  provisions  into  Paris,  revolted,  when  besieging  it  in 
person,"^  while  the  savage  advisers  of  Louis  send  away  the  corn 
W'hich  trade  brings  into  Paris  loyal  and  starving."  -" 

But  at  that  moment  the  king  entered  the  assembly.  The  Duke 
de  Liancourt,  taking  advantage  of  the  access  his  quality  of  master 
of  the  robes  gave  him,  had  informed  the  king,  during  the  night,  of 
the  desertion  of  the  French  guard,  and  of  the  attack  and  taking 
of  the  Bastile.  At  this  news,  of  which  his  councilors  had  kept  him 
in  ignorance,  the  monarch  exclaimed,  with  surprise:  "This  is  a 
revolt!  "  "  Xo,  sire!  it  is  a  revolution."  This  excellent  citizen  had 
represented  to  him  the  danger  to  which  the  projects  of  the  court 
exposed  him ;  the  fears  and  exasperation  of  the  people,  the  disaffec- 
tion of  the  troops,  and  he  determined  upon  presenting  himself 
before  the  assembly  to  satisfy  them  as  to  his  intentions.  The  news 
at  first  excited  transports  of  joy.  ]\Iirabeau  represented  to  his  col- 
leagues that  it  was  not  fit  to  indulge  in  premature  applause.  "  Let 
us  wait,"  said  he,  "  till  his  majesty  makes  knov.-n  the  good  inten- 
tions we  are  led  to  expect  from  him.  The  blood  of  our  brethren 
flows  in  Paris.  Let  a  sad  respect  be  the  first  reception  given  to  the 
king  by  the  representatives  of  an  unfortunate  people :  the  silence  of 
the  people  is  the  lesson  of  kings." 

-1  Henry  IV.,  during  the  siege  of  Paris  in  1593. 

--  Tliere  are  \'arioiis  versions  of  this  speech.  ^lirahean  was  a  statesman, 
but  he  was  not  a1)ove  being  a  "practical"  politician.  He  liad  a  hi-.-jvc  iii  Paris 
in  the  di>trict  of  the  Oratoire,  and  controlled  the  suffrages  of  tlie  (luarter. 
Bailly,  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  perhaps  unjustly,  criticises  his  affiliation  with  the  more 
radical  element. 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  71 

1789 

The  assembly  resumed  the  somber  demeanor  which  had  never 
left  it  during  the  three  preceding  days.  The  king  entered  without 
guards,  and  attended  only  by  his  brothers.  He  was  received  at 
first  in  profound  silence;  but  when  he  told  them  he  was  one  with 
the  nation,  and  that,  relying  on  the  love  and  fidelity  of  his  subjects, 
he  had  ordered  the  troops  to  leave  Paris  and  Versailles;  when  he 
uttered  the  affecting  words — "  Eh  hicn,  ccst  mot  qui  me  He  a  vo\is," 
"  Ah,  well,  I  entrust  myself  to  you,"  general  applause  ensued.  The 
assembly  arose  spontaneously  and  conducted  him  back  to  the 
chateau. 

This  intelligence  diffused  gladness  in  Versailles  and  Paris, 
where  the  reassured  people  passed,  by  sudden  transition,  from  ani- 
mosity to  gratitude.  Louis  XVL  thus  restored  to  himself,  felt  the 
importance  of  appeasing  the  capital  in  person,  of  regaining  the 
affection  of  the  people,  and  of  thus  conciliating  the  popular  power. 
He  announced  to  the  assembly  that  he  would  recall  Necker,  and 
repair  to  Paris  the  following  day.  The  assembly  had  already 
nominated  a  deputation  composed  of  eighty  persons  to  precede 
the  king  to  the  capital.  It  was  received  with  enthusiasm.  Bailly 
and  Lafayette,  who  formed  part  of  it,  were  appointed,  the  former 
mayor  of  Paris,  the  latter  commander-in-chief  of  the  citizen  guard. 

Bailly  owed  this  recompense  to  his  long  and  difficult  pres- 
idency of  the  assembly,  and  Lafayette  to  his  glorious  and 
patriotic  conduct.  A  friend  of  \\'ashington,  and  one  of  the 
principal  authors  of  American  independence,  he  had,  on  his  return 
to  his  country,  first  pronounced  the  name  of  the  states-general,  had 
joined  tlie  assembly  with  the  minority  of  the  nobility,  and  had 
since  proved  himself  one  of  the  most  zealous  partisans  of  the  revo- 
lution. For  the  events  of  the  14th  hastened  to  a  conclusion  a  plan 
suggested  on  June  25,  and  adopted  the  day  before  the  capture  of  the 
Bastile.  Paris  was  divided  into  sixty  districts,  which  were  later 
reduced  to  forty-eight  and  called  "  sections,"  each  district  furnish- 
ing a  battalion  composed  of  seven  companies.  Lafayette  was  per- 
mitted t(3  name  his  aides-de-camp,  but  tlie  other  officers  were 
elected.  A  small  property  qualification  was  required  until  April, 
1 79 1,  designed  to  prevent  the  enlistment  of  volunteers  from  the 
mr)b  element.""' 

-■"'  Si-e  a  valuable  note  in  Fletcher's  edition  of  Carlyle.  "  French  Revolution," 
vol.  I.  pp.  J15-J16.  1'he  sixty  districts  served  as  election  wards  for  the  civil 
administration. 


12  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

On  the  27th  the  new  magistrates  went  to  receive  the  king  at 
the  head  of  the  municipah'ty  and  the  Parisian  guard.  "  Sire,"  said 
Bailly,  "  I  bring  your  majesty  the  keys  of  your  good  town  of  Paris ; 
they  are  tlie  same  which  were  presented  to  Henry  IV. ;  he  had  re- 
gained his  people;  now  the  people  have  regained  tlieir  king."  From 
the  Place  Louis  XV.  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  the  king  passed  through 
a  double  line  of  the  national  guard,  placed  in  ranks  three  or  four 
deep,  and  armed  with  guns,  pikes,  lances,  scythes,  and  staves.  Their 
countenances  were  still  gloomy;  and  no  cry  was  heard  but  the  oft- 
repeated  shout  of  "  Vive  la  Nation! "  But  when  Louis  XVL  had 
left  his  carriage  and  received  from  Bailly's  hands  the  bi-colored 
cockade,  and,  surrounded  by  the  crowd  without  guards,  had  confi- 
dently entered  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  cries  of  "  Vive  le  Roil "  burst 
forth  on  every  side.  The  reconciliation  was  complete ;  Louis  XVL 
received  the  strongest  marks  of  affection.^*  After  approving  the 
choice  of  the  people  with  respect  to  the  new  magistrates,  he  re- 
turned to  Versailles,  where  some  anxiety  was  entertained  as  to  the 
success  of  his  journey,  on  account  of  the  preceding  troubles.  The 
national  assembly  met  him  in  the  Avenue  de  Paris ;  it  accompanied 
him  as  far  as  the  chateau,  where  the  queen  and  her  children  ran  to 
his  arms. 

The  ministers  opposed  to  the  revolution,  and  all  the  authors 
of  the  unsuccessful  projects,  retired  from  court.  The  Count 
d'Artois  and  his  two  sons,  the  Prince  de  Conde,  the  Prince  de  Conti, 
and  the  Polignac  family,  accompanied  by  a  numerous  train,  left 
France.  They  settled  at  Turin,  where  the  Count  d'Artois  and  the 
Prince  de  Conde  were  soon  joined  by  Calonne,  who  became  their 
agent.'^  Thus  began  the  first  emigration.  The  emigrant  princes 
were  not  long  in  exciting  civil  war  in  the  kingdom,  and  forming  an 
European  coalition  against  France. 

Necker  returned  in  triumph.  This  was  the  finest  moment  of 
his  life;  few  men  have  had  such.  The  minister  of  tlie  nation,  dis- 
graced for  it,  and  recalled  for  it,  he  was  welcomed  along  the  road 
from  Bale  to  Paris,  with  every  expression  of  public  gratitude  and 

^■i  Dr.  Rigby  says  "he  received  neither  applause  nor  insult  from  the  piipu- 
lace;  the  only  person  who  was  hissed  was  the  Archbishop  of  Paris."  "Journal," 
p.  88.  Louis  XVI.  was  welcomed  with  Masonic  honors  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 
He  had  become  a  member  of  the  order  in  1776. 

^•'' The  Count  d'Artois  had  married  a  princess  of  Savoy,  which  explains  his 
residence  at  Turin;  he  left  France  on  July  18.  There  is  an  important  history 
of  the  emigres  by  Forneron. 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  73 

1789 

joy.  His  entry  into  Paris  was  a  day  of  festivity.  But  the  day 
that  raised  his  popularity  to  its  height  put  a  term  to  it.  The 
muUitude,  still  enraged  against  all  who  had  participated  in  the 
project  of  July  14,  had  put  to  death,  with  relentless  cruelty, 
Foulon,  the  intended  minister,  and  his  nephew,  Berthier.^*  In- 
dignant at  these  executions,  fearing  that  others  might  fall  victims, 
and  especially  desirous  of  saving  the  Baron  de  Brezenval,  com- 
mander of  the  army  of  Paris,  under  Marshal  de  Broglie,  and  de- 
tained prisoner,  Necker  demanded  a  general  amnesty  and  obtained 
it  from  the  assembly  of  electors.  This  step  was  very  imprudent, 
in  a  moment  of  enthusiasm  and  mistrust.  Necker  did  not  know  the 
people;  he  was  not  aware  how  easily  they  suspect  their  chiefs  and 
destroy  their  idols.  They  thought  he  wished  to  protect  their  en- 
emies from  the  punishment  they  had  incurred ;  the  districts  assem- 
bled, the  legality  of  an  amnesty  pronounced  by  an  unauthorized 
assembly  was  violently  attacked,  and  the  electors  themselves  re- 
voked it.  No  doubt  it  was  advisable  to  calm  the  rage  of  the  people, 
and  recommend  them  to  be  merciful ;  but  instead  of  demanding  the 
liberation  of  the  accused,  the  application  should  have  been  for  a 
tribunal  which  would  have  removed  them  from  the  murderous  jur- 
isdiction of  the  multitude.  In  certain  cases  that  which  appears 
most  humane  is  not  really  so.  Necker,  without  gaining  anything, 
excited  the  people  against  himself,  and  the  districts  against  the 
electors ;  from  that  time  he  began  to  contend  against  the  revolution, 
of  which,  because  he  had  been  for  a  moment  its  hero,  he  hoped  to 
become  the  master.  But  an  individual  is  of  slight  importance 
during  a  revolution  which  raises  the  masses ;  that  vast  movement 
either  drags  him  on  with  it  or  tramples  him  under  foot ;  he  must 
either  precede  or  succumb.  At  no  time  is  the  subordination  of  men 
to  circumstances  more  clearly  manifested ;  revolutions  employ  many 
leaders,  and  when  they  submit,  it  is  to  one  alone. 

The  consequences  of  July  14  were  immense.  The  movement 
of  Paris  communicated  itself  to  the  provinces ;  the  country  popula- 
tion, imitating  that  of  the  capital,  organized  itself  in  all  directions 
into  municipalities  for  purposes  of  self-government,  and  into  bodies 

-'^  Foulon  had  been  intendant-general  of  the  army  in  the  Seven  Years'  War. 
He  was  the  victim  of  popular  fury,  because  he  was  reported  to  have  said  that 
grass  was  good  enough  for  the  hungry  masses. 

Berthier  was  a  son-in-law  of  Foulon,  and  intendant  of  Paris  at  this  time. 
He  had  done  good  service  iii  relieving  the  distress  of  Paris  in  the  hard  winter 
of  1788. 


74  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

of  national  guards  for  self-defense.  Authority  and  force  became 
wholly  displaced ;  royalty  had  lost  them  by  its  defeat,  the  nation  had 
acquired  them.  The  new  magistrates  were  alone  powerful,  alone 
obeyed ;  their  predecessors  were  altogether  mistrusted.  In  towns, 
the  people  rose  against  them  and  against  the  privileged  classes, 
whom  they  naturally  supposed  enemies  to  the  change  that  had  been 
effected.  In  the  country,  the  chateaux  were  fired  and  the  peasantry 
burned  the  title-deeds  of  their  lords.^^  In  a  moment  of  victory  it 
is  difficult  not  to  make  an  abuse  of  power.  But  to  appease  the 
people  it  was  necessary  to  destroy  abuses,  in  order  that  they  might 
not,  while  seeking  to  get  rid  of  them,  confound  privilege  with 
property.  Classes  had  disappeared,  arbitrary  power  was  de- 
stroyed ;  with  these,  their  old  accessory,  inequality,  too,  must  be 
suppressed.  Thus  must  proceed  the  establishment  of  the  new  order 
of  things,  and  these  preliminaries  were  the  work  of  a  single  night. 
The  assembly  had  addressed  to  the  people  proclamations  cal- 
culated to  restore  tranquillity.  The  constituting  the  Chatelet  a 
court  for  trying  the  conspirators  of  July  14  had  also  contributed  to 
the  restoration  of  order  by  satisfying  the  multitude.  An  important 
measure  remained  to  be  executed,  the  abolition  of  privileges.  On 
the  night  of  August  4  the  Viscount  de  Noailles  gave  the  signal 
for  this.  He  proposed  the  redemption  of  feudal  rights,  and  the 
suppression  of  personal  servitude.  With  this  motion  began  the 
sacrifice  of  all  the  privileged  classes ;  a  rivalry  of  patriotism  and 
public  offerings  arose  among  them.  The  enthusiasm  became  gen- 
eral ;  in  a  few  hours  the  cessation  of  all  abuses  was  decreed.  The 
Duke  du  Chatelet  proposed  the  redemption  of  tithes  and  their  con- 
version into  a  pecuniary  tax ;  the  Bishop  of  Chartres,  the  abolition 
of  the  game-laws ;  the  Count  de  Virieu,  that  of  the  law  protecting 
doves  and  pigeons.  The  abolition  of  seigneurial  courts,  of  the 
purchase  and  sale  of  posts  in  the  magistracy,  of  pecuniary  immuni- 
ties, of  favoritism  in  taxation,  of  surplice  money,  first-fruits,  plu- 
ralities, and  unmerited  pensions,  were  successively  proposed  and 
carried.    After  sacrifices  made  by  individuals   came  those  of  bodies, 

-"  Taine  has  shown,  '"  Ancient  Regime,"  pp.  374-388,  that  there  had  been 
upward  of  thirty  local  risings  in  the  provinces  since  January,  so  that  the  event 
of  July  14  must  be  looked  upon  as  both  cause  and  effect.  Professor  H.  Morse 
Stephens.  "  History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  I.  pp.  174  ff.,  has  admirably 
studied  the  psychology  of  this  mob-movement.  Readers  of  Dickens.  "  Tale  of 
Two  Cities,"  will  recall  the  description  of  the  burning  chateau.  In  Burgundy 
one  castle  a  day  was  burned,  on  an  average,  during  the  months  of  July  and 
August,  and  in  Dauphine,  seventy-two  in  two  weeks. 


THE     STATES-GENERAL  75 

1789 

of  towns,  and  provinces.  Companies  and  civic  freedoms  were 
abolished.  The  Marquis  des  Blacons,  a  deputy  of  Dauphine,  in 
the  name  of  his  province  pronounced  a  solemn  renunciation  of 
its  privileges.  The  other  provinces  followed  the  example  of 
Dauphine,  and  the  towns  that  of  the  provinces.  A  medal  was 
struck  to  commemorate  the  da}^ ;  and  the  assembly  decreed  to  Louis 
XVL  the  title  of  Restorer  of  French  Liberty. 

That  night,  which  an  enemy  of  the  revolution  designated  at 
the  time  the  Saint  Bartholomew  of  property,  was  only  the  Saint 
Bartholomew  of  abuses.  It  swept  away  the  rubbish  of  feudalism ; 
it  delivered  persons  from  the  remains  of  servitude,  properties  from 
seigneurial  liabilities;  from  the  ravages  of  game,  and  the  exaction 
of  tithes.  By  destroying  the  seigneurial  courts,  that  remnant  of 
private  power,  it  led  to  the  principle  of  public  power;  in  putting  an 
end  to  the  purchasing  posts  in  the  magistracy,  it  threw  open  the 
prospect  of  unbought  justice.  It  was  the  transition  from  an  order 
of  things  in  which  everything  belonged  to  individuals,  to  another 
in  which  everything  was  to  belong  to  the  nation.  That  night 
changed  the  face  of  the  kingdom ;  it  made  all  Frenchmen  equal ;  all 
might  now  obtain  public  employments ;  aspire  to  the  idea  of  property 
of  their  own,  of  exercising  industry  for  their  own  benefit.  That 
night  was  a  revolution  as  important  as  the  insurrection  of  July  14, 
of  which  it  was  the  consequence.  The  precipitate  conduct  of  the 
assembly,  though,  was  a  grave  blunder.  Mirabeau,  who  was  not 
present  during  the  events  of  this  famous  night,  called  it  an  "  orgy." 
He  was  close  to  the  truth.  Although  the  renunciations  were  made 
with  the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  it  was  both  an  imprudent  and 
an  unjust  action.  For  by  destroying  the  whole  fabric  of  the  feudal 
system  the  assembly  destroyed  the  only  existing  administrative 
institutions  in  France.  They  committed  the  great  error  of  abolish- 
ing the  only  form  of  government  yet  remaining  before  they  had 
framed  a  constitution  to  replace  it.  The  result  was  that  on  August 
5  France  awoke  to  discover  itself  to  be  utterly  without  an  adminis- 
trative system.  Instead  of  allaying  the  disturbances,  the  assembly 
aggravated  the  anarchy."^ 

The   revolution   had   progressed   rapidly,   had   obtained   great 

-''' Taine  makes  a  striking  comparison  between  the  action  of  August  4  and 
the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  16S5.  In  both  cases,  he  points  out. 
a  superior  class  was  legislated  against,  deprived  of  property  rights,  and  reduce<l 
to  poverty  and  exile.  lie  estimates  that  123.000.000  francs'  worth  of  property. 
equal  to  two  thousand  millions  to-day,  passed  by  that  act  from  a  creditor  to  a 


76  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

results  in  a  very  short  time;  it  would  have  been  less  prompt,  less 
complete,  had  it  not  been  attacked.  Every  refusal  became  for  it 
the  cause  of  a  new  success;  it  foiled  intrigue,  resisted  authority, 
triumphed  over  force ;  and  at  the  point  of  time  we  have  reached  the 
whole  edifice  of  absolute  monarchy  had  fallen  to  the  ground 
through  the  errors  of  its  chiefs.  June  17  had  witnessed  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  three  orders,  and  the  states-general  changed 
into  the  national  assembly;  with  June  23  terminated  the  moral 
influence  of  royalty;  with  July  14  its  physical  power;  the  assembly 
inherited  the  one,  the  people  the  other;  finally,  August  4  completed 
this  first  revolution.  The  period  we  have  just  gone  over  stands 
prominently  out  from  the  rest;  in  its  brief  course  force  was  dis- 
placed, and  all  the  preliminary  changes  were  accomplished.  The 
following  period  is  that  in  which  the  new  system  is  discussed,  be- 
comes established,  and  in  which  the  assembly,  after  having  been 
destructive,  becomes  constructive. 

debtor  class  without  redress  or  indemnification.  "  Through  a  great  wrong,  an 
entire  class,  the  greatest  part  of  which  had  no  share  in  the  favors  of  the  court, 
were  confounded  with  the  parasites  of  Versailles  .  .  .  twenty-five  thousand 
families,  the  nursery  of  the  army  and  the  fleet,  the  elite  of  the  agricultural 
population,  became  the  pariahs  of  a  canton." — Taine,  "  Ancient  Regime,"  p.  61. 
Even  so  liberal  a  person  as  Sieyes  protested  against  the  action  of  the  assembly. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  much  of  the  economic  and  social  phenomena  of  the 
revolution  later  on  was  due  to  the  violent  disturbance  of  such  conditions  at 
this  time. 


PART  II 

THE  NATIONAL  CONSTITUENT  ASSEMBLY 
AUGUST  4,  1789-SEPTEMBER  30,  1791 


Chapter    IV 

THE    RISE    OF    POPULAR    GOVERNMENT 
AUGUST  4-OCTOBER   6,    1789 

THE  national  assembly,  composed  of  the  elite  of  the  nation, 
was  full  of  intelligence,  pure  intentions,  and  projects  for 
the  public  good.  It  was  not,  indeed,  free  from  parties,  or 
wholly  unanimous ;  but  the  mass  was,  under  the  empire,  neither  of 
an  idea  nor  of  a  man ;  and  it  was  the  mass  which,  upon  a  conviction 
ever  untrammeled  and  often  entirely  spontaneous,  decided  the  de- 
liberations and  decreed  popularity.  The  following  were  the  di- 
visions of  views  and  interests  it  contained  within  itself: 

The  court  had  a  party  in  the  assembly,  the  privileged  classes, 
who  remained  for  a  long  time  silent,  and  took  but  a  tardy  share  in 
the  debates.  This  party  consisted  of  those  who  during  the  dispute 
as  to  the  orders  had  declared  against  union.  The  aristocratic 
classes,  notwithstanding  their  momentary  agreement  with  the  com- 
mons, had  interests  altogether  contrary  to  those  of  the  national 
party;  and,  accordingly,  the  nobility  and  higher  clergy,  who 
formed  the  Right  of  the  assembly,  were  in  constant  opposition  to  it, 
except  on  days  of  peculiar  excitement.  These  foes  of  the  revolu- 
tion, unable  to  prevent  it  by  their  sacrifices,  or  to  stop  it  by  their 
adhesion,  systematically  contended  against  all  its  reforms.  Their 
leaders  were  two  men  who  were  not  the  first  among  them  in  birth 
or  rank,  but  who  were  superior  to  the  rest  in  talents.  Maury  and 
Cazales  represented,  as  it  were,  the  one  the  clergy,  and  the  other 
the  nobility. 

These  two  orators  of  the  privileged  classes,  according  to  the 
intentions  of  their  party,  who  put  little  faith  in  the  duration  of 
these  changes,  rather  protested  than  stood  on  the  defensive ;  and  in 
all  their  discussions  their  aim  was  not  to  instruct  the  assembly,  but 
to  bring  it  into  disrepute.  Each  introduced  into  his  part  the  par- 
ticular turn  of  his  mind  and  character.  Maury  made  long  speeches, 
Cazalcs  1?ve1v  sallies.  Tie  first  ])reserve(l  at  the  tribune  his  habits 
as  a  preacher  and  academician ;  he  spoke  on  legislative  subjects 

79 


80  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

without  understanding  them,  never  seizing  the  right  view  of  the 
subject,  nor  even  that  most  advantageous  to  his  party;  he  gave 
proofs  of  audacity,  erudition,  skill,  a  brilliant  and  well-sustained 
facility,  but  never  displayed  solidity  of  judgment,  firm  conviction, 
or  real  eloquence.  The  Abbe  Maury  spoke  as  soldiers  fight.  No 
one  could  contradict  oftener  or  more  pertinaciously  than  he,  or 
more  flippantly  substitute  quotations  and  sophisms  for  reasoning, 
or  rhetorical  phrases  for  real  bursts  of  feeling.  He  possessed 
much  talent,  but  wanted  the  faculty  which  gives  it  life  and  truth. 
Cazales,  who  had  been  a  captain  in  the  French  army,  was  the 
opposite  of  Maury:  he  had  a  just  and  ready  mind;  his  eloquence 
was  equally  facile,  but  more  animated ;  there  was  candor  in  his 
outbursts,  and  he  always  gave  the  best  reasons.  No  rhetorician, 
he  always  took  the  true  side  of  a  question  that  concerned  his 
party,  and  left  declamation  to  Maury.  With  the  clearness  of 
his  views,  his  ardent  character,  and  the  good  use  he  made  of  his 
talents,  his  only  fault  was  that  of  his  position:  Maury,  on  the 
other  hand,  added  the  errors  of  his  mind  to  those  which  were  in- 
separable from  the  cause  he  espoused. 

Necker  and  the  ministry  had  also  a  party,  but  it  was  less  nu- 
merous than  the  other,  on  account  of  its  moderation.  France  was 
then  divided  into  the  privileged  classes  opposed  to  the  revolution, 
and  the  people  who  strenuously  desired  it.  As  yet  there  was  no 
place  for  a  mediating  party  between  them.  Necker  had  declared 
himself  in  favor  of  the  English  constitution,  and  those  who  from 
ambition  or  conviction  were  of  his  views  rallied  round  him. 
Among  these  was  Mounier,  a  man  of  strong  mind  and  inflexible 
spirit,  who  considered  that  system  as  the  type  of  representative 
governments;  Lally-Tollendal,  as  decided  in  his  views  as  the 
former,  and  more  persuasive;  Clermont-Tonnerre,  the  friend  and 
ally  of  Mounier  and  Lally;  in  a  word,  the  minority  of  the  nobility, 
and  some  of  the  bishops,  who  hoped  to  become  members  of  the 
upper  chamber  should  Necker's  views  be  adopted. 

The  leaders  of  this  party,  afterward  called  the  monarchical 
party,  wished  to  effect  a  revolution  by  compromise,  and  to  introduce 
into  France  a  representative  government,  ready  formed,  namely, 
that  of  England.  At  every  point  they  besought  the  powerful  to 
make  a  compromise  with  the  weak.  Before  July  14  they  asked 
the  court  and  privileged  classes  to  satisfy  the  commons ;  after- 
ward they  asked  the  commons  to  agree  to  an  arrangement  with 


POPULAR     GOVERNMENT  81 

1789 

the  court  and  the  privileged  classes.  They  thought  that  each 
ought  to  preserve  his  influence  in  the  state;  that  deposed  parties 
are  discontented  parties,  and  that  a  legal  existence  must  be  made 
for  them,  or  interminable  struggles  be  expected  on  their  part.  But 
they  did  not  see  how  little  their  ideas  were  appropriate  to  a  mo- 
ment of  exclusive  passions.  The  struggle  was  begun,  the  struggle 
destined  to  result  in  the  triumph  of  a  system,  and  not  in  a  com- 
promise. It  was  a  victory  which  had  made  the  three  orders  give 
place  to  a  single  assembly,  and  it  was  difficult  to  break  the  unity  of 
this  assembly  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  government  of  two  chambers. 
The  moderate  party  had  not  been  able  to  obtain  this  government 
from  the  court,  nor  were  they  to  obtain  it  from  the  nation:  to 
the  one  it  had  appeared  too  popular;  for  the  other,  it  was  too 
aristocratic. 

The  rest  of  the  assembly  consisted  of  the  national  party.  As 
yet  there  were  not  observed  in  it  men  who,  like  Robespierre,  Petion, 
and  Buzot,  wished  to  begin  a  second  revolution  when  the  first  was 
accomplished.  At  this  period  the  most  extreme  of  this  party  were 
Duport,  Barnave,  and  Lameth,  who  formed  a  triumvirate,  whose 
opinions  were  prepared  by  Duport,  sustained  by  Barnave,  and  man- 
aged by  Alexander  Lameth.  There  was  something  remarkable 
and  announcing  the  spirit  of  equality  of  the  times  in  this  intimate 
union  of  an  advocate  belonging  to  the  middle  classes,  of  a  counselor 
belonging  to  the  parliamentary  class,  and  a  colonel  belonging  to 
the  court,  renouncing  the  interests  of  their  order  to  unite  in  views 
of  the  public  good  and  popular  happiness.  This  party  at  first  took 
a  more  advanced  position  than  that  which  the  revolution  had  at- 
tained. July  14  had  been  the  triumph  of  the  middle  class;  the 
constituent  assembly  was  its  legislature,  the  national  guard  its 
armed  force,  the  mayoralty  its  popular  power.  Mirabeau,  La- 
fayette, Bailly,  relied  on  this  class;  one  was  its  tribune,  the  other 
its  general,  and  the  third  its  magistrate.  Duport,  Barnave,  and 
Lameth's  party  were  the  principles,  and  sustained  the  interests 
of  that  period  of  the  revolution;  but  this  party,  composed  of 
young  men  of  ardent  patriotism,  who  entered  on  public  affairs 
with  superior  qualities,  fine  talents,  and  elevated  positions,  and 
who  joined  to  the  love  of  liberty  the  ambition  of  playing  a  leading 
part,  placed  itself  from  the  first  rather  in  advance  of  the  revolu- 
tion of  July  14.  Its  fulcrum  within  the  assembly  was  the  members 
of  the  extreme  Left;  without, in  the  clubs;  in  the  nation, in  the  party 


82  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

of  the  people  who  had  cooperated  on  July  14  and  who  were  un- 
willing- that  the  bourg-eoisie  alone  should  derive  advantage  from 
the  victory.  By  putting  itself  at  the  head  of  those  who  had  no 
leaders,  and  who  being  a  little  out  of  the  government  aspired  to 
enter  it,  it  did  not  cease  to  belong  to  this  first  period  of  the  revolu- 
tion ;  only  it  formed  a  kind  of  democratic  opposition,  even  in  the 
middle  class  itself,  only  differing  from  its  leaders  on  a  few  unim- 
portant points,  and  voting  with  them  on  most  cjuestions.  It  was, 
among  these  popular  men,  rather  a  patriotic  emulation  than  a 
party  dissension. 

The  debate  upon  the  constitution  first  brought  out  these  party 
differences  in  the  national  assembly.  The  terms  Right,  Left, 
Center,  etc.,  did  not  come  into  vogue  until  after  the  events  of 
October  5-6,  1789,  when  the  assembly,  brought  to  Paris,  found 
a  place  of  meeting  in  a  riding-hall  adjoining  the  Tuileries  palace. 
The  horse-shoe  shape  of  this  amphitheater  is  said  to  have  given 
rise  to  the  distinctions.  Tt  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  the 
terminology  thus  invented  has  passed  into  the  political  language  of 
every  Continental  parliament  to-day.  The  Right  of  European 
legislatures  is  the  conservative  party,  the  Left  the  radical.  In 
proportion  as  the  revolution  becomes  radical,  the  Right  disap- 
pears, and  the  Left  of  one  assembly  becomes  the  Right  of  the 
succeeding  assembly.  Thus  the  Left  of  the  national  assembly 
became  the  Right  of  the  legislative  assembly;  and  the  Left  of 
the  legislative  assembly  became  the  Right  of  the  convention.  The 
Left  of  the  convention  were  those  red  terrorists  knovvn  as  the 
Mountain  party;  so  named  originally  from  the  high  seats  they  fre- 
quented in  the  hall. 

Duport,  who  was  strong-minded,  and  who  had  acquired  pre- 
mature experience  of  the  management  of  political  passions,  in  the 
struggles  which  parlement  had  sustained  against  the  ministry,  and 
which  he  had  chiefly  directed,  knew  well  that  a  people  reposes  the 
moment  it  has  gained  its  rights,  and  that  it  begins  to  grow  weak  as 
soon  as  it  reposes.  To  keep  in  vigor  those  who  governed  in  the 
assembly,  in  the  mayoralty,  in  the  militia ;  to  prevent  th.e  public 
activity  from  slackening,  and  not  to  disband  tlie  people,  whose  aid 
he  might  one  day  require,  he  conceived  and  executed  the  famous 
confederation  of  the  clubs.  This  institution,  like  everything  that 
gives  a  great  imi)ulse  to  a  nation,  caused  a  great  deal  of  good,  and 
a  great  deal  of  harm.      It  impeded  legal  authority,  when  this  of 


POPULAR     G  O  ^'  E  R  N  :M  E  N  T  83 

1789 

itself  was  sufficient ;  bnt  it  also  g"ave  an  immense  energy  to  the 
revolution,  when,  attacked  on  all  sides,  it  could  only  save  itself 
by  the  most  violent  efforts.  For  the  rest,  the  founders  of  this  as- 
sociation had  not  calculated  all  its  consecjuences.  They  regarded  it 
simply  as  a  wheel  destined  to  keep  or  put  in  movement  the  public 
machine,  witliout  danger,  when  it  tended  to  abate  or  to  cease  its 
activity;  they  did  not  think  they  were  working  for  the  advantage 
of  the  multitude.  After  the  flight  to  Varennes  (June  20,  1791), 
this  party  had  become  too  exacting  and  too  formidable;  they  for- 
sook it,  and  supported  themselves  against  it  with  the  mass  of  the 
assembly  and  the  middle  class,  whose  direction  was  left  vacant  by 
the  death  of  Mirabeau.  At  this  period  it  was  important  to  them 
speedily  to  fix  the  constitutional  revolution ;  for  to  protract  it  would 
have  been  to  bring  on  the  republican  revolution. 

The  mass  of  the  assembly,  we  have  just  mentioned,  abounded 
in  just,  experienced,  and  even  superior  minds.  Its  leaders  were 
two  men,  strangers  to  the  third  estate,  and  adopted  by  it.  Without 
the  Abbe  Sieyes,  the  constituent  assembly  would  probably  have 
had  less  unity  in  its  operation,  and,  without  Mirabeau,  less  energy 
in  its  conduct. 

Sieyes  was  one  of  those  men  who  create  sects  in  an  age  of 
enthusiasm,  and  wlio  exercise  the  ascendency  of  a  powerful  reason 
in  an  enlightened  age.  Solitude  and  philosophical  studies  had 
matured  him  at  an  early  age.  His  views  were  nev/,  strong,  and 
extensive,  but  somewhat  too  systematic.  Society  had  especially 
been  the  subject  of  his  examination;  he  had  watched  its  progress, 
investigated  its  springs.  The  nature  of  government  appeared  to 
him  less  a  question  of  right  than  a  question  of  epoch.  His  vast 
intellect  ranged  the  society  of  his  day  in  its  divisions,  relations, 
powers,  and  movement.  Sieyes,  though  of  cold  temperament,  had 
the  ardor  which  the  pursuit  of  truth  inspires,  and  the  passion 
which  its  discovery  gives;  he  was  accordingly  absolute  in  his  views, 
disdaining  those  of  others,  because  he  considered  them  incomplete, 
and  that,  in  his  opinion,  half  truth  was  error.  Contradiction 
irritated  him ;  he  was  not  communicative.  Desirous  of  making 
himself  thorougldy  known,  he  could  not  do  so  with  everyone.  His 
ade]:)ts  imparted  liis  systems  to  others,  which  surrounded  him  with 
a  sort  of  mystery  and  rendered  him  the  object  of  a  species  of 
reverence.  He  had  the  authority  which  complete  political  science 
procures,  and  the  constitution  might  have  emerged  from  his  head 


8 A  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

completely  armed,  like  the  Minerva  of  Jupiter,  or  the  legislation  of 
the  ancients,  were  it  not  that  in  his  day  everyone  sought  to  be 
engaged  in  the  task,  or  to  criticise  it.  Yet,  with  the  exception  of 
some  modifications,  his  plans  were  generally  adopted,  and  he  had 
in  the  committees  more  disciples  than  colleagues. 

Mirabeau  obtained  in  the  tribune  the  same  ascendency  as 
Sieyes  in  the  committees.  He  was  a  man  who  only  waited  the 
occasion  to  become  great.  At  Rome,  in  the  best  days  of  the  re- 
public, he  would  have  been  a  Gracchus;  in  its  decline,  a  Catiline; 
under  the  Fronde,  a  Cardinal  de  Retz ;  and  in  the  decrepitude  of  a 
monarchy,  when  such  a  being  could  only  find  scope  for  his  im- 
mense faculties  in  agitation,  he  became  remarkable  for  the  vehe- 
mence of  his  passions,  and  for  their  punishment,  a  life  passed  in 
committing  disorders,  and  suffering  for  them.  This  prodigious 
activity  required  employment;  the  revolution  provided  it.  Accus- 
tomed to  the  struggle  against  despotism,  irritated  by  the  contempt 
of  a  nobility  who  were  inferior  to  him,  and  who  excluded  him  from 
their  body;  clever,  daring,  eloquent,  Mirabeau  felt  that  the  revolu- 
tion would  be  his  work,  and  his  life.  He  exactly  corresponded  to 
the  chief  wants  of  his  time.  His  thought,  his  voice,  his  action, 
were  those  of  a  tribune.  In  perilous  circumstances  his  was  the 
earnestness  which  carried  away  an  assembly;  in  difficult  discus- 
sions, the  unanswerable  sally  which  at  once  put  an  end  to  them; 
with  a  word  he  prostrated  ambition,  silenced  enmities,  disconcerted 
rivalries.  This  powerful  being,  perfectly  at  his  ease  in  the  midst 
of  agitation,  now  giving  himself  up  to  the  impetuosity,  now  to  the 
familiarities  of  conscious  strength,  exercised  a  sort  of  sovereignty 
in  the  assembly.  He  soon  obtained  immense  popularity,  which 
he  retained  to  the  last ;  and  he  w^hom,  at  his  first  entrance  into  the 
legislature,  every  eye  shunned,  was,  at  his  death  (April  2,  1791), 
received  into  the  Pantheon  amid  the  tears  of  the  assembly  and 
of  all  France.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  revolution,  Mirabeau 
would  have  failed  in  realizing  his  destiny,  for  it  is  not  enough  to 
be  great :  one  must  live  at  the  fitting  period. 

The  Duke  of  Orleans,  to  whom  a  party  has  been  given,  had 
but  little  influence  in  the  assembly;  he  voted  with  the  majority, 
not  the  majority  with  him.  The  personal  attachment  of  some  of 
its  members,  his  name,  the  fears  of  the  court,  the  popularity  his 
opinions  enjoyed,  hopes  rather  than  conspiracies  had  increased  his 
reputation  as  a  factious  character.      He  had  neither  the  qualities 


POPULAR     GOVERNMENT  85 

1789 

nor  the  defects  of  a  conspirator;  he  may  have  aided  with  his  money 
and  his  name  popular  movements,  that  would  have  taken  place  just 
the  same  without  him,  and  which  had  another  object  than  his  ele- 
vation. It  is  still  a  common  error  to  attribute  the  greatest  of 
revolutions  to  some  petty  private  maneuvering,  as  if  at  such  an 
epoch  a  whole  people  could  be  used  as  the  instrument  of  one  man. 

The  assembly  had  acquired  the  entire  power;  the  corporations 
depended  on  it ;  the  national  guards  obeyed  it.  It  was  divided  into 
committees  to  facilitate  its  operations  and  execute  them.  The 
royal  power,  though  existing  of  right,  was  in  a  measure  suspended, 
since  it  was  not  obeyed,  and  the  assembly  had  to  supply  its  action 
by  its  own.  Thus,  independently  of  committees  intrusted  with  the 
preparation  of  its  measures,  it  had  appointed  others  to  exercise  a 
useful  superintendence  without.  A  committee  of  supply  occupied 
itself  with  provisions,  an  important  object  in  a  year  of  scarcity;  a 
committee  of  inquiry  corresponded  with  the  corporations  and 
provinces ;  a  committee  of  researches  received  informations  against 
the  conspirators  of  July  14.  But  finance  and  the  constitution, 
which  the  past  crises  had  adjourned,  were  the  special  subjects  of 
attention. 

After  having  momentarily  provided  for  the  necessities  of  the 
treasury,  the  assembly,  although  now  become  sovereign,  consulted 
by  examining  the  petitions,  the  wishes  of  its  constituents.  It  then 
proceeded  to  form  its  institutions  with  a  method,  a  liberal  and 
extensive  spirit  of  discussion,  which  was  to  procure  for  France  a 
constitution  comformable  with  justice  and  suited  to  its  necessities. 
The  United  States  of  America,  at  the  time  of  their  independence, 
had  set  forth  in  a  declaration  the  rights  of  man  and  those  of  the 
citizen.  This  will  ever  be  the  first  step.  A  people  rising  from 
slavery  feels  the  necessity  of  proclaiming  its  rights  even  before  it 
forms  its  government.  Those  Frenchmen  who  had  assisted  at  the 
American  Revolution,  and  who  cooperated  now,  proposed  a  simi- 
lar declaration  as  a  preamble  to  the  laws.  This  was  agreeable  to 
an  assembly  of  legislators  and  philosophers,  restricted  by  no  limits, 
since  no  institutions  existed,  and  who  were  directed  by  primitive 
and  fundamental  ideas  of  society,  for  it  was  the  pupil  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  Though  this  declaration  contained  only  general 
principles,  and  confined  itself  to  setting  forth  in  maxims  what  the 
constitution  was  to  put  into  laws,  it  was  calculated  to  elevate  the 
mind,  and  impart  to  the  citizens  a  consciousness  of  their  dignity 


86  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

and  importance.  At  Lafayette's  suggestion  the  assembly  had 
before  commenced  this  discussion ;  but  the  events  at  Paris  and  the 
decrees  of  August  4  had  interrupted  its  labors;  they  were  now  re- 
sumed, and  concluded  by  determining  the  principles  which  were  to 
form  the  table  of  the  new  law,  and  which  were  the  assumption  of 
right  in  the  name  of  humanity. 

Lafayette's  motion  had  been  made  on  July  11.  It  is  a  com- 
mon statement  of  French  and  German  works  upon  the  French 
Revolution  that  the  adoption  of  these  principles  by  the  asseml^ly 
was  in  imitation  of  the  United  States.  The  facts  do  not  warrant 
this  statement.  The  American  declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man 
at  the  head  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  of  much  more 
active  political  force  in  the  anti-slavery  conflict  than  in  either  the 
American  or  the  French  Revolution.  The  American  colonists  in 
1776  were  struggling  for  their  rights  as  Englishmen,  and  v/hen 
they  secured  independence,  they  had  recovered  the  essential  parts 
of  the  legal  structure  which  they  had  inherited  from  England.  In 
France  the  metaphysical  abstractions  called  the  Rights  of  ^Nlan 
were  not  the  result  of  the  influence  of  America,  but  had  their  root 
in  the  pseudo-political  philosophy  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is 
significant  that  there  is  nothing  like  the  "  glittering  generalities  " 
of  the  opening  paragraph  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
any  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.^ 

These  generalities  being  adopted,  the  assembly  turned  its  at- 
tention to  the  organization  of  the  legislative  power.  This  was  one 
of  its  most  important  objects;  it  was  to  fix  the  nature  of  its  func- 
tions, and  establish  its  relations  with  the  king.  In  this  discussion 
the  assembly  had  only  to  decide  the  future  condition  of  the  legisla- 
tive power.  Invested  as  it  was  with  constituent  authority,  it  was 
raised  above  its  own  decisions,  and  no  intermediate  power  could 
suspend  or  prevent  its  mission.  But  what  should  be  the  form  of 
the  de]i]icrati\e  body  in  future  sessions?      Should  it  remain  indi- 

"1  There  is  a  brief  br.t  admirable  discussion  of  the  real  influence  of  America 
upon  the  French  Revolntion  in  the  preface  to  the  American  edition  of  H.  Alorsc 
Stephens.  "History  of  the  PVench  Revolution,"  Cf.  Bancroft,  "History  of 
United  States"  (centenary  edition),  vol.  V.  pp.  519-550.  or  last  edition,  vol.  V. 
pp.  244-560;  Buckle,  "History  of  Civilization,'"  vol.  TI.  pp.  4T5-41S  and  666-667; 
Charlcmayne  Towers,  "  Lafayette  in  America " ;  Andrew  D.  White,  "  Circular 
No.  2  of  United  States  T'ureau  of  Education  " ;  "  Dinry  and  Letters  "  of  Gou- 
verneur  Morris,  vol.  I.  pp.  114-139;  Tocqueville,  "The  Old  Re.yime  and  the  Revo- 
lution," p,  179:  Rosenthal.  '"America  and  France,"  and  review  of  same  in  the 
New  York  Natwn,  vol.  XXXIV.  p.  525. 


POPULAR     G  O  V  E  R  N  iVI  E  N  T  87 

1789 

visible,  or  be  divided  into  two  chambers?  If  the  latter  form  should 
be  adopted,  what  should  be  the  nature  of  the  second  chamber? 
Should  it  be  made  an  aristocratic  assembly,  or  a  moderative 
senate?  And,  whatever  the  deliberative  body  might  be,  was  it  to 
be  permanent  or  periodical,  and  should  the  king  share  the  legisla- 
tive power  with  it?  Such  were  the  difficulties  that  agitated  the 
assembly  and  Paris  during  the  month  of  September. 

If  we  consider  the  position  of  the  assembly  and  its  ideas  of 
sovereignty,  we  shall  easily  understand  the  manner  in  which  these 
questions  were  decided.  It  regarded  the  king  merely  as  the  heredi- 
tary agent  of  the  nation,  having  neither  the  right  to  assemble  its 
representatives  nor  that  of  directing  or  suspending  them.  Ac- 
cordingly, it  refused  to  grant  him  the  initiative  in  making  laws  and 
dissolving  the  assembly.  It  considered  that  the  legislative  body 
ought  not  to  be  dependent  on  the  king.  It  moreover  feared  that 
by  granting  the  government  too  strong  an  influence  over  the  as- 
sembly, or  by  not  keeping  the  latter  always  together,  the  prince 
might  profit  by  the  intervals  in  which  lie  would  be  left  alone,  to 
encroach  on  the  otlier  powers,  and  perhaps  even  to  destroy  the  new 
system.  Therefore  to  an  authority  in  constant  activity,  they 
wished  to  oppose  an  always  existing  assembly,  and  the  permanence 
of  the  assembly  was  accordingly  declared.  The  debate  respecting 
its  indivisibility,  or  its  division,  was  very  animated.  Necker, 
Mounier,  and  Lally-Tollendal  desired,  in  addition  to  a  representa- 
tive chamber,  a  senate,  to  be  composed  of  members  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  king  on  the  nomination  of  the  people.  They  con- 
sidered this  as  the  only  means  of  moderating  the  power,  and  even 
of  preventing  the  tyranny  of  a  single  assembly.  They  had  as 
partisans  such  members  as  participated  in  their  ideas,  or  who  hoped 
to  form  part  of  the  upper  chamber.  The  majority  of  the  nobility 
did  not  wish  for  a  house  of  peers,  but  for  an  aristocratic  assembly, 
whose  members  it  should  elect.  They  could  not  agree;  Mounier's 
parly  refusing  to  fall  in  with  a  project  calculated  to  revive  the 
orders,  and  the  aristocracy  refusing  to  accept  a  senate,  which 
would  con.firm  the  ruin  of  the  nobility.  The  greater  portion  of  the 
deputies  of  th,e  clergy  and  of  the  commons  were  in  favor  of  the 
unity  of  the  asseml)ly.  11ie  po])ular  party  considered  it  illegal 
to  appoint  legislators  for  life:  it  thought  that  the  upper  chamber 
would  become  th.e  instrument  of  the  court  and  aristocracy,  and 
would  then  be  dangerous,  or  become  useless  by  uniting  with  the 


88  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

commons.  Thus  the  nobihty,  from  dissatisfaction,  and  the  na- 
tional party,  from  a  spirit  of  absohite  justice,  ahke  rejected  the 
upper  chamber. 

This  determination  of  the  assembly  has  been  the  object  of 
many  reproaches.  The  partisans  of  the  peerage  have  attributed  all 
the  evils  of  the  revolution  to  the  absence  of  that  order;  as  if  it  had 
been  possible  for  anybody  whatsoever  to  arrest  its  progress.  It 
was  not  the  constitution  which  gave  it  the  character  it  has  had, 
but  events  arising  from  party  struggles.  What  would  the  upper 
chamber  have  done  between  the  court  and  the  nation?  If  in  favor 
of  the  first,  it  would  have  been  unable  to  guide  or  save  it;  if  in 
favor  of  the  second,  it  would  not  have  strengthened  it;  in  either 
case,  its  suppression  would  have  infallibly  ensued.  In  such  times 
progress  is  rapid,  and  all  that  seeks  to  check  it  is  superfluous.  In 
England,  the  house  of  lords,  although  docile,  was  suspended  dur- 
ing the  crisis.  These  various  systems  have  each  their  epoch ; 
revolutions  are  achieved  by  one  chamber  and  end  with  two.^ 

The  royal  sanction  gave  rise  to  great  debates  in  the  assembly 
and  violent  clamors  without.  The  question  was  as  to  the  part  of 
the  king  in  the  making  of  laws ;  the  deputies  were  nearly  all  agreed 
on  one  point.  They  were  determined,  in  admitting  his  right  to 
sanction  or  refuse  laws ;  but  some  desired  that  this  right  should  be 
unlimited,  others  that  it  should  be  temporary.  This,  in  reality, 
amounted  to  the  same  thing,  for  it  was  not  possible  for  the  king 
to  prolong  his  refusal  indefinitely,  and  the  veto,  though  absolute, 
would  only  have  been  suspensive.  But  this  faculty,  bestowed  on 
a  single  man,  of  checking  the  will  of  the  people,  appeared  exorbi- 
tant, especially  out  of  the  assembly,  where  it  was  less  understood. 

Paris  had  not  yet  recovered  from  the  agitation  of  July  14 ; 
the  popular  government  was  but  beginning,  and  the  city  experi- 
enced all  its  liberty  and  disorder.      The  assembly  of  electors,  who 

-The  single  house  was  adopted  on  September  11,  by  a  vote  of  499  to  89. 
"  I  learn  that  the  national  assembly  have  agreed  to  a  single  chamber  of  legis- 
lation and  a  suspensive  veto  in  the  king.  This  is  traveling  on  the  highroad  to 
anarchy,  and  that  worst  of  all  tyrannies,  the  despotism  of  a  faction  in  a  popular 
assembly." — "  Diary  and  Letters  "  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  vol.  I.  p.  154  (written  on 
September  13). 

For  a  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  bicameral  system  of  government,  see 
Lieber,  "Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  pp.  197-200.  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  a  believer  in  the  single  legislative  house,  and  his  influence  prevailed  upon 
the  framers  of  the  early  constitution  of  Pennsylvania  so  to  provide.  But  it 
was  soon  abandoned.  Vermont  and  Georgia  are  the  only  other  common- 
wealths which  have  ventured  to  try  the  experiment  in  the  United  States. 


POPULAR     GOVERNMENT  80 

1789 

in  difficult  circumstances  had  taken  the  place  of  a  provisional  cor- 
poration, had  just  been  replaced.  A  hundred  and  eighty  members, 
nominated  by  the  districts,  constituted  themselves  legislators  and 
representatives  of  the  city.  While  they  were  engaged  on  a  plan 
of  municipal  organization  each  desired  to  command ;  for  in  France 
the  love  of  liberty  is  almost  the  love  of  power.  The  committees 
acted  apart  from  the  mayor;  the  assembly  of  representatives  arose 
against  the  committees,  and  the  districts  against  the  assembly  of 
representatives.  Each  of  the  sixty  districts  attributed  to  itself  the 
legislative  power,  and  gave  the  executive  power  to  its  committees; 
they  all  considered  the  members  of  the  general  assembly  as  their 
subordinates,  and  themselves  as  invested  with  the  right  of  annul- 
ling their  decrees.  This  idea  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  principal 
over  the  delegate  made  rapid  progress.  Those  who  had  no  share 
in  authority  formed  assemblies  and  then  gave  themslves  up  to  dis- 
cussion ;  soldiers  debated  at  the  Oratoire,  journeymen  tailors  at  the 
Colonnade,  hair-dressers  in  the  Champs  Elysees,  servants  at  the 
Louvre;  but  the  most  animated  debates  took  place  in  the  Palais 
Royal.  There  were  inquired  into  the  questions  that  occupied  the 
national  assembly,  and  its  discussions  criticised.  The  dearth  of 
provisions  also  brought  crowds  together,  and  these  mobs  were  not 
the  least  dangerous. 

Such  was  the  state  of  Paris  when  the  debate  concerning  the 
veto  was  begun.  The  alarm  aroused  by  this  right  accorded  to  the 
king  was  extreme.  It  seemed  as  though  the  fate  of  liberty  de- 
pended on  the  decision  of  this  question,  and  that  the  veto  alone 
would  bring  back  the  ancient  system.  The  multitude,  ignorant  of 
the  nature  and  limits  of  power,  wished  the  assembly,  on  which  it 
relied,  to  do  all,  and  the  king,  whom  it  mistrusted,  to  do  nothing. 
Every  instrument  left  at  the  disposal  of  the  court  appeared  the 
means  of  a  counter-revolution.  The  crowds  at  the  Palais  Royal 
grew  turbulent ;  threatening  letters  were  sent  to  those  members  of 
the  assembly  who,  like  Mounier,  had  declared  in  favor  of  the 
absolute  veto.  They  spoke  of  dismissing  them  as  faithless  repre- 
sentatives, and  of  marching  upon  Versailles.  The  Palais  Royal 
sent  a  deputation  to  the  assembly,  and  required  the  municipality  of 
Paris  to  declare  the  deputies  revocable,  and  to  make  them  at  all 
times  dependent  on  the  electors.  The  commune  remained  firm, 
rejected  the  demands  of  the  Palais  Royal,  and  took  measures  to 
prevent  the  riotous  assemblies.      The  national  guard  supported  it ; 


90  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

this  body  was  well  disposed;  Lafayette  had  acquired  its  confidence; 
it  was  becoming  orcfanized,  it  wore  a  uniform,  submitted  to  dis- 
cipline after  the  exam])le  of  the  French  guard,  and  learned  from 
its  chief  the  love  of  order  and  respect  for  the  law.^  But  the  middle 
class  that  composed  it  had  not  yet  taken  exclusive  possession  of 
the  popular  government.  The  multitude  which  was  enrolled  on 
July  14  was  not  as  yet  entirely  disbanded.  This  agitation  from 
without  rendered  the  debates  upon  the  veto  stormy;  in  this  way  a 
very  simple  c[uestion  acquired  great  importance,  and  the  ministry, 
perceiving  how  fatal  the  influence  of  an  absolute  decision  might 
prove,  and  seeing,  also,  that  the  unlimited  veto  and  the  suspensive 
veto  were  one  and  the  same  thing,  induced  the  king  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  latter,  and  give  up  the  former.  The  assembly  declared 
that  the  refusal  of  his  sanction  could  not  be  prolonged  by  the  prince 
beyond  two  sessions;  and  this  decision  satisfied  everyone. 

The  court  took  advantage  of  the  agitation  in  Paris  to  realize 
other  projects.  For  some  time  it  had  influenced  the  king's  mind. 
At  first  ^  he  had  refused  to  sanction  the  decrees  of  August  4, 
although  they  were  constitutive,  and  consequently  he  could  not 
avoid  promulgating  them.  After  accepting  them,  on  the  remon- 
strances of  the  assembly,  he  renewed  the  same  difficulties  relative 
to  the  declaration  of  rights.  The  object  of  the  court  was  to  repre- 
sent Louis  XVL  as  oppressed  by  the  assembly,  and  constrained 
to  submit  to  measures  which  he  was  unwilling  to  accept;  it  endured 
its  situation  with  impatience,  and  strove  to  regain  its  former  au- 
thority. Flight  was  the  only  means,  and  it  was  requisite  to  legi- 
timate it;  nothing  could  be  done  in  the  presence  of  the  assembly, 
and  the  neighborhood  of  Paris.  Royal  authority  had  fallen  on 
June  23,  military  power  on  July  14;  there  was  no  alternative  but 
civil  war.     As  it  was  difficult  to  persuade  the  king  to  this  course, 

"  These  sentences  give  a  rosy  view  of  the  state  of  Paris  after  July  14. 
Lafayette,  in  truth,  found  the  formation  of  the  national  guard  a  difficult  task; 
he  admits  that  he  could  not  make  them  do  guard  mount  when  it  rained !  The 
murder  of  Foulon  and  Bcrthier  shows  that  at  least  ten  days  after  the  fall  of  the 
Bastilc  anarchy  prevailed,  and  Lafayette  himself  says  that  his  personal  inter- 
vention rescued  more  than  twenty  persons  from  being  murdered  by  rioters 
during  this  time. — "  Mcmoires  et  Correspondence  de  Lafayette!'  vol.  IL,  153,  164. 

*  Louis  XVL's  reply  shows  more  political  insight  than  he  commonly  dis- 
played :  "  T  can  but  admire  the  sacrifice,  but  I  will  never  consent  to  deprive 
myself  of  noliility  and  clergy.  I  am  obliged  to  give  way  to  force.  I  can  but 
give  way,  but  in  that  case  there  will  be  no  longer  either  monarchy  or  a  monarch 
to  France." — Van  Laun,  "History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  vol.  L,  p.  112. 
The  king  did  not  j'ield  until  October  5. 


POPULAR     GOVERNMENT  91 

1789 

they  waited  till  the  last  moment  to  induce  him  to  flee:  his  hesita- 
tion caused  the  failure  of  the  plan.  It  was  proposed  to  retire  to 
Metz,  to  Bouille,  in  the  midst  of  his  army;  to  call  around  the 
monarch  the  nobility,  the  troops  who  continued  faithful,  the  parle- 
ments ;  to  declare  the  assembly  and  Paris  in  a  state  of  rebellion ; 
to  invite  them  to  obedience  or  to  force  them  to  it;  and  if  the  ancient 
system  could  not  be  entirely  reestablished,  at  least  to  confine  them- 
selves to  the  declaration  of  June  20.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
court  hi.d  an  interest  in  removing  the  king  from  Versailles,  that 
it  might  effect  something,  it  was  the  interest  of  the  partisans  of 
the  revolution  to  bring  him  to  Paris ;  the  Orleans  faction,  if  one 
existed,  had  an  interest  in  driving  the  king  to  flight,  by  intimida- 
ting him,  in  the  hope  that  the  assembly  would  appoint  its  leader 
lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom ;  and,  lastly,  the  people,  who 
were  in  want  of  bread,  wished  the  king  to  reside  at  Paris,  in  the 
hope  that  his  presence  would  diminish  or  put  a  stop  to  the  dearth 
of  provisions.  All  these  causes  existing,  an  occasion  was  only  want- 
ing to  bring  about  an  insurrection ;  the  court  furnished  this  occa- 
sion. On  the  pretext  of  protecting  itself  against  the  movements 
in  Paris,  it  summoned  troops  to  Versailles,  doubled  the  household 
guards,  and  sent  for  the  dragoons  and  the  Flanders  regiment. 
All  this  preparation  of  troops  gave  rise  to  the  liveliest  fears;  a  re- 
port spread  of  an  anti-revolutionary  measure,  and  the  flight  of  the 
king  and  the  dissolution  of  the  assembl}'  were  announced  as  at 
hand.  Strange  uniforms  and  yellow  and  black  cockades  were  to 
be  seen  at  the  Luxembourg,  the  Palais  Royal,  and  at  the  Chamips 
Elysees ;  the  foes  of  the  revolution  displayed  a  degree  of  joy  they 
had  not  manifested  for  some  time.  The  behavior  of  the  court  con- 
firmed these  suspicions,  and  disclosed  the  object  of  all  these 
preparations. 

The  officers  of  the  Flanders  regiment,  importuned  with  anxiety 
by  the  town  of  Versailles."'  were  feted  at  the  chateau  and  even  ad- 
mitted to  the  queen's  card  tables.  Endeavors  were  made  to  secure 
their  devotion,   and   a  banquet  was  given   to   them  by  the  king's 

•''  The  attitude  toward  the  regiments  was  original]}'  misstated.  But  it  is  clear 
that  the  municipality  of  Versailles,  in  fear  of  the  rioters  from  Paris,  had  formally 
petitioned  the  king  to  reinforce  the  garrison.  The  Flanders  regiment  was  brought 
to  Versailles  in  compliance  with  this  wish.  fT.omenic,  "  Lrs  Mirabeaii."  vol.  IV. 
p.  45(S.)  Moreover,  the  i>re^ence  of  the  foreign  regiments  afforded  a  pretext  ior 
revolutionary  violence  more  than  it  occasioned  fear.  "The  foreign  regiments  are 
not  numerous  enough  to  make  any  serious  impression,"  writes  Morris  on  July  7. — 
"' Diar\'  and  Letters,"  vol.  T.  p.   115. 


92  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

guards.  The  officers  of  the  dragoons  and  the  chasseurs,  who  were 
at  Versailles,  those  of  the  Swiss  guards,  of  the  hundred  Swiss,  of 
the  prevote,  and  the  staff  of  the  national  guard  were  invited.  The 
theater  in  the  chateau,  which  was  reserved  for  the  most  solemn 
fetes  of  the  court,  and  which,  since  the  marriage  of  the  second 
brother  of  the  king,  had  only  been  used  for  the  Emperor  Joseph  II., 
was  selected  for  the  scene  of  the  festival.  The  king's  musicians 
were  ordered  to  attend  this,  the  first  fete  which  the  guards  had 
given.  During  the  banquet  toasts  to  the  king  and  royal  family 
were  drunk  with  enthusiasm,  while  the  nation  was  omitted  or  re- 
jected. At  the  second  course  the  grenadiers  of  Flanders,  the  two 
bodies  of  Swiss,  and  the  dragoons  were  admitted  to  witness  the 
spectacle  and  share  the  sentiments  which  animated  the  guests.  The 
enthusiasm  increased  every  moment.  Suddenly  the  king  was  an- 
nounced; he  entered  attired  in  a  hunting  dress,  the  queen  leaning 
on  his  arm  and  carrying  the  dauphin.  Shouts  of  affection  and 
devotion  arose  on  every  side.  The  health  of  the  royal  family  was 
drunk  with  swords  drawn;  and  when  Louis  XVI.  withdrew, 
the  music  played,  "  O  Richard,  O  mon  roi!  I'univers  fahandonne." 
The  scene  now  assumed  a  very  significant  character;  the  march 
of  the  Hullans  and  the  profusion  of  wine  deprived  the  guests 
of  all  reserve.  The  charge  was  sounded;  tottering  guests  climbed 
the  boxes  as  if  mounting  to  an  assault;  white  cockades  were  dis- 
tributed; the  tri-colored  cockade,  it  is  said,  was  trampled  on,  and 
the  guests  then  spread  through  the  galleries  of  the  chateau,  where 
the  ladies  of  the  court  loaded  them  with  congratulations  and  deco- 
rated them  with  ribbons  and  cockades. 

Such  was  this  famous  banquet  of  October  i,  which  the  court 
was  imprudent  enough  to  repeat  on  the  3d.  One  cannot  help 
lamenting  its  fatal  want  of  foresight ;  it  could  neither  submit  to 
nor  change  its  destiny.  This  assembling  of  the  troops,  so  far 
from  preventing  aggression  in  Paris,  provoked  it ;  the  banquet 
did  not  make  the  devotion  of  the  soldiers  any  more  sure,  while  it 
augmented  the  ill  disposition  of  the  people.  To  protect  itself  there 
was  no  necessity  for  so  much  ardor,  nor  for  flight  was  there  need- 
ful so  much  preparation;  but  the  court  never  took  the  measure 
calculated  to  make  its  designs  succeed,  or  else  it  only  half  took  it, 
and,  in  order  to  decide,  it  always  waited  until  there  was  no  longer 
any  time. 

The  news  of  this  banquet  produced  the  greatest  sensation  in 


POPULAR     G  0  \^  E  R  N  M  E  N  T  S3 

1789 

Paris.  On  the  4th  suppressed  rumors,  counter-revolutionary  provo- 
cations, the  dread  of  conspiracies,  indignation  against  the  court, 
and  increasing  alarm  at  the  dearth  of  provisions,  all  announced 
an  insurrection;  the  multitude  already  looked  tow^ard  Versailles. 
On  the  5th  the  insurrection  broke  out  in  a  violent  and  invincible 
manner;  the  entire  want  of  flour  was  the  signal.  A  young  girl, 
entering  a  guard-house,  seized  a  drum  and  rushed  through  the 
streets  beating  it,  crying,  "  Bread !  Bread !  "  She  was  soon  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  of  women.  This  mob  advanced  toward  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  increasing  as  it  went.  It  forced  the  guard  that 
stood  at  the  door  and  penetrated  into  the  interior,  clamoring  for 
bread  and  arms ;  it  broke  open  doors,  seized  weapons,  and  marched 
toward  Versailles.  The  people  soon  rose  en  masse,  uttering  the 
same  demand,  till  the  cry,  "  To  Versailles !  "  rose  on  every  side. 
The  women  started  first,  headed  by  Maillard,  one  of  the  volunteers 
of  the  Bastile.  The  populace,  the  national  guard,  and  the  French 
guards  requested  to  follow  them.  The  commander,  Lafayette,  op- 
posed their  departure  a  long  time,  but  in  vain;  neither  his  efforts 
nor  his  popularity  could  overcome  the  obstinacy  of  the  people.  For 
seven  hours  he  harangued  and  retained  them.  At  length,  impatient 
at  this  delay,  rejecting  his  advice,  they  prepared  to  set  forward 
without  him;  when,  feeling  that  it  was  now  his  duty  to  conduct 
as  it  had  previously  been  to  restrain  them,  he  obtained  his  authoriza- 
tion from  the  corporation,  and  gave  the  word  for  departure  about 
seven  in  the  evening,® 

8  Mignet's  account  has  been  allowed  to  stand,  but  in  light  of  later  research 
there  is  much  misstatement  in  this  paragraph  and  those  following.  To  begin 
with,  as  far  back  as  August  30,  a  plan  had  been  concerted  in  Paris  for  an 
attack  similar  to  this  upon  the  court.  (Alalouet,  "  Mcmoires,"  vol.  II.  p.  299.) 
It  was  fear  of  such  an  event  that  led  the  corporation  of  Versailles,  as  has  been 
shown,  to  ask  for  an  increase  of  troops.  In  the  second  place,  the  "  dearth  of 
provisions"  was  more  fictitious  than  real.  (See  Lomenie,  "  Les  Mirabeau,"  vol. 
IV.  p.  489.)  The  official  market  bulletin — B  telle  tin  des  Halles — of  October  3, 
proves  that  there  was  plenty  of  provisions  in  Paris  on  that  day.  The  scarcity  on 
the  5th  was  due  to  the  timidity  of  the  small  grocers  to  open  their  shops,  for  fear 
of  rioters.  The  mobs  of  women  reached  the  Hotel  de  Ville  between  ten  and 
eleven  o'clock ;  the  members  of  the  national  guard  on  duty  there  showed  reluc- 
tance to  use  force  against  them,  but  it  is  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  they 
"  requested  to  follow  them."  As  for  Lafayette,  he  showed  an  almost  crim- 
inal remissness  at  this  time.  (See  Von  Hoist,  "The  French  Revolution  Tested 
by  Mirabeau's  Career,"  vol.  TI.  p.  58  ff.  Cf.  Von  Sybel,  "French  Revolution," 
vol.  I.  p.  127.)  He  had  had  full  information  from  his  lieutenants  of  the  insurrec- 
tionary condition,  but  instead  of  being  alive  to  tlie  danger  he  delayed  action.  Not 
until  after  the  crowd  of  women  were  on  the  road  to  Versailles  did  he  appear — 


94  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

The  excitement  at  Versailles  was  less  impetuous,  but  quite  as 
real ;  the  national  guard  and  the  assembly  were  anxious  and  irri- 
tated. The  double  banquet  of  the  household  troops,  the  approbation 
the  queen  had  expressed,  "  J'ai  etc  enchantcc  de  la  journcc  de  Jcudi " 
— the  king's  refusal  to  accept  simply  the  Rights  of  Man,  his  con- 
certed temporizings,  and  the  want  of  provisions,  excited  the  alarm 
of  the  representatives  of  the  people  and  filled  them  with  suspicion. 
Petion,  having  denounced  the  banquets  of  the  guards,  was  sum- 
moned by  a  royalist  deputy  to  explain  his  denunciation,  and  make 
known  the  guilty  parties.  "  Let  it  be  expressly  declared,"  exclaimed 
Mirabeau,  "  that  whosoever  is  not  king  is  a  subject  and  responsible, 
and  I  will  speedily  furnish  proofs."'  These  words,  which  pointed 
to  the  queen,  compelled  the  Right  side  to  be  silent.  This  hostile 
discussion  was  preceded  and  succeeded  by  debates  equally  animated, 
concerning  the  refusal  of  the  sanction,  and  the  scarcity  of  provisions 
in  Paris.  At  length,  just  as  a  deputation  was  dispatched  to  the 
king  to  require  his  pure  and  simple  acceptance  of  the  Rights  of 
Man,  and  to  solicit  him  to  facilitate  with  all  his  power  the  supply- 
ing Paris  with  provisions,  the  arrival  of  the  women,  headed  by 
Maillard.  was  announced. 

Their  unexpected  appearance,  for  they  had  intercepted  all  the 
couriers  who  might  have  announced  it,  excited  the  terrors  of  the 
court.  Tlie  troops  of  Versailles  flew  to  arms  and  surrounded  the 
chateau,  but  the  intentions  of  the  vromen  were  not  hostile.  Maillard, 
their  leader,  had  recommended  them  to  appear  as  suppliants,  and 
in  that  attitude  they  presented  their  complaints  successively  to  tlie 
assembly  and  to   the  king.      Accordingly,   the  first   hours  of   this 

about  I  p.  M.  Even  then  he  dallied  for  three  hours  more,  leaving-  for  Versailles 
after  four  o'clock,  declaring  that  he  could  not  go  without  the  authorization  of  the 
commune.  Lafayette  did  not  "  oppose  their  departure  a  long  time  " ;  he  did  not 
"harangue  them  for  seven  hours."  Camille  Desmoulins  writes  with  just  deri- 
sion, '' Lc  tcmporisatciir  Fabius!  On  pretend  que  Ic  chcval  blanc  niit  ncuf 
hcurcs  a  fairc  la  mute  de  Paris  a  Versailles,"  for  he  did  not  reach  Versailles 
until  II  p.  M. !  Tlie  women  had  been  there  since  three  o'clock.  Counting  the 
gentlemen  of  tlie  court  who  volunteered,  there  were  2800  soldiers  available  for 
defense  of  the  palace.  But  when  Louis  XVL  was  asked  for  orders,  he 
asked:  "What  orders?  against  women?  You  mock  me."  Tt  seem-  likely 
that  Lafayette,  who  was  fond  of  admiration,  wanted  to  have  the  king  and  queen 
put  in  distress  tliat  he  might  dramatically  play  the  part  of  rescuer.  Gouverneur 
and  his  partakes  most  of  the  latter." — "  Diary  and  Letters,"  vol.  L  p.  1,^6.  Even 
Morris  penetrated  his  character,  in  writing:  "He  is  a  lover  of  freedom  from 
ambition,  of  which  there  are  two  kinds:  one  born  of  pride,  the  other  of  vanity, 
JefTerson  wrote  of  him:  '"His  foible  is  a  canine  appetite  for  populariiy  anrl 
fame." — Eu. 


POPULAR     GOVERNMENT  95 

1789 

turbulent  evening  were  sufficiently  calm.  Yet  it  was  impossible 
but  that  causes  of  hostility  should  arise  between  an  excited  mob 
and  the  household  troops,  the  objects  of  so  much  irritation.  The 
latter  were  stationed  in  the  court  of  the  chateau  opposite  the  na- 
tional guard  and  the  Flanders  regiment.  The  space  between  was 
filled  by  women  and  volunteers  of  the  Bastile.  In  the  midst  of  the 
confusion,  necessarily  arising  from  such  a  juxtaposition,  a  scuffle 
arose;  this  was  the  signal  for  disorder  and  conflict.  An  officer  of 
the  guards  struck  a  Parisian  soldier  with  his  saber,  and  was  in  turn 
shot  in  the  arm.  The  national  guards  sided  against  the  household 
troops ;  the  conflict  became  warm,  and  would  have  been  sanguinary 
but  for  the  darkness,  the  bad  weather,  and  the  orders  given  to  the 
household  troops  first  to  cease  firing  and  then  to  retire.  But  as 
these  were  accused  of  being  the  aggressors,  the  fury  of  the  multi- 
tude continued  for  some  time ;  their  quarters  were  broken  into, 
two  of  them  were  wounded,  and  another  saved  with  difficulty. 

During  this  tumult  the  court  was  in  consternation ;  the  flight 
of  the  king  was  suggested,  and  carriages  prepared;  a  picket  of  the 
national  guard  saw  them  at  the  gate  of  the  Orangery,  and  having 
made  them  go  back,  closed  the  gate:  moreover,  the  king,  either 
ignorant  of  the  designs  of  the  court,  or  conceiving  them  imprac- 
ticable, refused  to  escape.  Fears  were  mingled  with  his  pacific 
intentions  when  he  hesitated  to  repel  the  aggression  or  to  take 
flight.  Conquered,  he  apprehended  the  fate  of  Charles  I.  of  Eng- 
land ;  absent,  he  feared  that  the  Duke  of  Orleans  would  obtain 
tlie  lieutenancy  of  the  kingdom.  But,  in  tlie  meantime,  the  rain, 
fatigue,  and  the  inaction  of  the  household  troops  lessened  the  fury 
of  the  multitude,  and  Lafayette  arrived  at  the  head  of  the  Parisian 
army. 

His  presence  restored  security  to  tlie  court,  and  the  replies 
of  the  king  to  tlie  deputation  from  Paris  satisfied  the  multitude 
and  the  army.  Li  a  short  time  Lafayette's  activity,  the  good  sense 
and  discipline  of  the  Parisian  guard  restored  order  everywhere. 
1'ranquillity  returned.  The  crowd  of  women  and  volunteers,  over- 
ci^me  by  fatigue,  gradually  dispersed,  and  some  of  the  national 
guard  were  intrusted  with  the  defense  of  the  chateau,  while  others 
were  lodged  with  their  companions  in  arms  at  Versailles.  The 
royal  family,  reassured  after  the  anxiety  and  fear  of  this  painful 
niglit,  retired  to  rest  about  two  o'clock  in  tlie  morning.  Toward 
five.  Lafayette,  having  visited  the  outposts  which  had  been  con- 


96  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

fided  to  his  care,  and  finding  the  watch  well  kept,  the  town  cahn, 
and  the  crowds  dispersed  or  sleeping,  also  took  a  few  moments' 
repose/ 

About  six,  however,  some  of  the  lower  class,  more  en- 
thusiastic than  the  rest,  and  awake  sooner  than  they,  prowled 
round  the  chateau.  Finding  a  gate  open,  they  informed  their  com- 
panions, and  entered.*  Unfortunately,  the  interior  posts  had  been 
intrusted  to  the  household  guards,  and  refused  to  the  Parisian 
army.  This  fatal  refusal  caused  all  the  misfortunes  of  the  night. 
The  interior  guard  had  not  even  been  increased,  the  gates  scarcely 
visited,  and  the  watch  kept  as  negligently  as  on  ordinary  occasions. 
These  men,  excited  by  all  the  passions  that  had  brought  them  to 
Versailles,  perceiving  one  of  the  household  troops  at  a  window, 
began  to  insult  him.  He  fired  and  wounded  one  of  them.  They 
then  rushed  on  the  household  troops,  who  defended  the  chateau 
breast  to  breast  and  sacrificed  themselves  heroically.  One  of  them 
had  time  to  warn  the  queen,  whom  the  assailants  particularly  threat- 
ened, and,  half-dressed,  she  ran  for  refuge  to  the  king.  The  tumult 
and  danger  were  extreme  in  the  chateau. 

Lafayette,  apprised  of  the  invasion  of  the  royal  residence, 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  hastily  to  the  scene  of  danger.  On 
the  square  he  met  some  of  the  household  troops  surrounded  by  an 
infuriated  mob,  who  were  on  the  point  of  killing  them.  He  threw 
himself  among  them,  called  some  French  troops,  who  were  near, 
and  having  rescued  the  household  troops  and  dispersed  their  assail- 
ants, he  hurried  to  the  chateau.  He  found  it  already  secured 
by  the  grenadiers  of  the  French  guard,  w4io  at  the  first  noise  of 
the  tumult  had  hastened  and  protected  the  household  troops  from 
the  fury  of  the  Parisians.  But  the  scene  was  not  over ;  the  crowd 
assembled  again  in  the  marble  court  under  the  king's  balcony,  loudly 
called  for  him,  and  he  appeared.  They  required  his  departure 
for  Paris;   he  promised  to  repair  thither  with  his  family,  and  this 

'  Details  of  this  tumultuous  night  and  the  actual  time  of  events  are  uncer- 
tain. Lafayette  says  he  intended  to  go  to  bed — after  2  A.  M.,  when  he  had 
visited  the  palace,  Init  was  interrupted  by  the  alarm,  which  was  certainly  much 
earlier  than  six  o'clock.  See  the  note  in  Carlyle's  "  French  Revolution,"  ed. 
Fletcher,  vol.  I.  p.  333. 

^  Owing  to  the  carelessness  of  the  officer  in  charge  of  it,  this  door  had  not 
been  secured.  The  Marquis  de  Parroy,  an  officer  of  the  guards,  writing  to  his 
wife  the  next  day,  says  he  was  wakened  by  the  shouts  of  the  mob  crying  out 
against  the  queen.     Published  iu  "  Revolution  frani^aise,"  vol.  I.  no.  2. 


0   "c 


POPULAR     GOVERNMENT  97 

1789 

promise  was  received  with  general  applause.  The  queen  was  re- 
solved to  accompany  him;  but  the  prejudice  against  her  was  so 
strong  that  the  journey  was  not  without  danger;  it  was  necessary 
to  reconcile  her  with  the  multitude.  Lafayette  proposed  to  her  to 
accompany  him  to  the  balcony;  and  after  some  hesitation  she  con- 
sented. They  appeared  on  it  together,  and  to  communicate  by 
a  sign  with  the  tumultuous  crowd,  to  conquer  its  animosity  and 
awaken  its  enthusiasm,  Lafayette  respectfully  kissed  the  queen's 
hand;  the  crowd  responded  with  acclamations.  It  now  remained 
to  make  peace  between  them  and  the  household  troops.  Lafayette 
advanced  with  one  of  these,  placed  his  own  tri-colored  cockade  on 
his  hat,  and  embraced  him  before  the  people,  who  shouted  "  Vivent 
les  gardcs-du  corps!"  Thus  terminated  this  scene;  the  royal  fam- 
ily set  out  for  Paris,  escorted  by  the  army,  and  its  guards  mixed 
with  it. 

The  insurrection  of  October  5-6  was  an  entirely  popular  move- 
ment. We  must  not  try  to  explain  it  by  secret  motives,  nor  attrib- 
ute it  to  concealed  ambition;  it  was  provoked  by  the  imprudence 
of  the  court.  The  banquets  of  the  household  troops,  the  reports 
of  flight,  the  dread  of  civil  war,  and  the  scarcity  of  provisions 
alone  brought  Paris  upon  Versailles.  If  special  instigators,  which 
the  most  careful  inquiries  have  still  left  doubtful,  contributed  to 
produce  this  movement,  they  did  not  change  either  its  direction  or 
its  object.  The  result  of  this  event  was  the  destruction  of  the 
ancient  regime  of  the  court ;  it  deprived  it  of  its  guard,  it  removed 
it  from  the  royal  residence  at  Versailles  to  the  capital  of  the  revo- 
lution, and  placed  it  under  the  surveillance  of  the  people.  The  last 
events  had  struck  terror  into  the  assembly.  In  one  week,  after 
October  6,  more  than  300  members  demanded  passports  and  120 
resigned. 

Through  Mirabeau's  correspondence  with  La  Marque  we  see 
that  he  foresaw  the  events  of  the  5th  and  6th.  From  the  first  he 
had  offered  the  king  and  the  ministers  his  support.  At  the  close 
of  September  he  told  La  IMarque  to  tell  the  king  and  queen  that 
they  could  and  must  confide  in  him,  but  they  still  refused  him 
tlieir  confidence.  On  October  17  Mirabeau  went  to  La  Marque 
and  said:  "  If  you  have  any  means  to  get  the  ear  of  the  king  and 
queen,  convince  them  that  they  are  lost  unless  they  leave  Paris. 
I  am  busy  with  a  plan  to  get  them  out  of  it.  Assure  them  that 
they  can  count  upon  my  assistance."     Mirabeau  gave  him  his  plan 


98  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

in  the  memoir  of  October  15.  He  saw  that  it  was  absokitely  neces- 
sary to  get  the  king  out  of  Paris.  The  whole  history  of  the  revo- 
lution after  October  6  verified  this.  The  memoir  was  as  a  prophecy 
of  the  whole  future  history. 

Mirabeau  begins  by  stating  that  neither  the  king  nor  the 
national  assembly  are  free  in  Paris,  and  he  proceeds  to  ask 
whether  the  king  is  personally  safe,  and  answers  the  question  thus : 
"  In  the  situation  in  which  he  is,  the  slightest  catastrophe  could 
compromise  his  safety.  The  excited  mob  at  Paris  is  irresistible. 
What  will  Paris  be  three  months  hence?  A  hospital  or  perhaps  a 
theater  of  horrors !  The  ministers  are  without  resources.  Only 
Necker  still  enjoys  some  popularity,  but  does  not  know  how  to 
use  it."  Then  he  goes  on:  "The  provinces  are  not  as  yet  torn 
from  one  another.  There  will  come  a  time  when  there  will  be  a 
danger  of  France  becoming  geographically  disrupted.  The  ex- 
change of  provisions  is  more  and  more  interrupted,  and  the  nation 
has  become  disused  to  work."     He  goes  on : 

"  The  public  force  lies  in  public  opinion  and  the  revenues  of 
the  state.  All  ties  of  public  opinion  are  severed.  There  is  no 
government,  because  there  is  no  freedom  in  the  national  assembly 
nor  in  the  king.  And  at  the  same  time  the  nation  is  getting  dis- 
used to  work.  The  more  concentrated  the  revolutionary  action 
becomes,  the  narrower  and  easier  its  basis  of  public  opinion  grows. 
The  more  absolutely  radicalism  holds  sway,  the  less  the  number 
grows  of  those  who  pretend  to  represent  the  sovereign  public 
opinion.  Only  the  direct  taxes  are  paid,  and  even  these  in  part 
only,  while  half  of  the  taxes  are  indirect  ones.  This  means  that 
they  are  rapidly  going  toward  bankruptcy." 

Mirabeau  goes  on :  "  A  dull  commotion  is  in  course  of  prep- 
aration. When  the  body  politic  falls  into  solution,  a  crisis  is  nec- 
essary to  regenerate  it.  The  only  means  to  save  the  state  and  the 
forming  constitution  is  to  bring  the  king'  into  a  situation  which 
will  allow  him  to  unite  himself  with  his  people — not  to  take  issue 
with  the  revolution,  not  to  cross  swords  with  them.  The  only 
means  is  to  unite  the  king  and  the  people. 

"  Paris  for  a  long  time  has  swallowed  up  all  the  revenues  of 
the  state.  It  is  the  seat  of  the  fiscal  regime  abhorred  by  tlic  prov- 
inces. Paris  has  caused  the  public  debt,  ruined  ]iublic  credit,  and 
cuni])romised  the  honor  of  the  nation  by  these  pernicious  stock- 
jcjbbings.     Is  the  national  assemljly  going  to  ruin  all   iM'ance  for 


POPULAR     G  O  V  E  R  N  ]M  E  N  T  99 

1789 

this  one  city?  Can  Paris  save  itself?  Xo;  Paris  is  lost  if  it  is 
not  forced  to  moderation." 

Mirabeaii  then  discusses  the  means  by  which  these  dangers 
may  be  arrested.  The  king  must  not  withdraw  to  Aletz  or  the 
frontier,  for  that  would  be  to  declare  war  to  the  nation.  Nor 
should  he  unite  with  the  nobility.  To  go  away  in  order  to  gain 
liberty,  renounce  the  national  assembly,  and  dissolve  every  con- 
nection would  be  a  less  violent  measure,  but  not  less  dangerous, 
for  the  king  would  then  have  neitlier  the  nobility  nor  the  people 
with  him.  A  great  revolution  is  necessary  to  save  the  kingdom. 
The  nation  must  regain  its  riglits  and  have  them  consolidated. 
Only  a  national  convention  can  regenerate  France,  and  the  king 
must  unite  with  the  people. 

In  the  nature  of  things  it  is  impossible  to  get  out  of  a  great 
political  danger  without  danger — and  the  statesman  must  use  all 
his  efforts  to  prepare  moderately  and  direct  tlie  crisis,  but  not 
prevent  or  postpone  it,  for  that  would  serve  to  make  it  more  violent. 

Mirabeau's  plan  '*  was  as  follows:  Preparations  should  be  made 
for  the  departure  of  the  king,  and  public  opinion  in  the  provinces 
should  be  prepared  for  the  impending  events.  By  asking  the  as- 
sistance of  the  national  assembly,  its  eyes  would  be  opened  to  its 
own  peril.  To  insure  the  king's  departure,  guards  consisting  of 
national  regiments  and  amounting  to  10,000  men  should  be  sta- 
tioned between  Paris  and  Rouen.  Then  the  king  could  depart  in 
broad  daylight.  Rouen  was  chosen  because  it  was  in  the  interior, 
and  besi'J.es,  it  could  be  easily  provisioned,  and  finally  Brittany  and 
Anjou  were  loyal  and  witliin  easv  reach. 

Proclamations  should  announce  that  the  king  threw  himself 
into  the  arms  of  the  people  for  protection,  because  he  had  been 
denied  c\'cn  tlie  rights  of  a  l^rench  citizen,  and  tliat  he  confided  his 
honor  and  safety  to  the  French  loyalty.  Proclamations  should 
be  issued  enliglitening  the  people  about  their  true  interests,  and  a 
cliange  of  the  public  opinion  would  soon  work  a  change  in  the  na- 
tional assembiv.  The  Icing  would  work  f(3r  the  welfare  of  the  citi- 
zen, and  wanted  himself  to  be  only  a  citizen. 

'•'The  reader  may  consult  tlie  ori.uinal  text  of  tliis  famous  memoir  in  tlie 
"  Corrcspojidciicc  ciitrr  Mirahcau  ct  Ic  Comic  dc  la  Marque,"  vol.  I.  pp.  364-382. 
It  is  translated  in  the  "  University  of  Pcnn.sylvania  Translations  and  Reprints," 
vol.  T.  book  5.  pp.  R-iS. 

Consult  al>n  Von  Tlol^t.  ''The  Frcich  Revolution  Tested  hy  Mirabeau's 
Career.''  vol.  11.  pp.  6S.  ft'.;  Sl(,])hens.  "  iM-ench  Revolution,"  vol.  1.  pp.  245  ff . ; 
X'U  Sybvl.  "llistfjry  of  tlie  i'rench  Revolution,  vol.   I.  p.   138. 


100  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789 

Tliis  plan  ought  to  have  been  carried  out  at  once.  But  noth- 
ing came  of  it.  The  memoir  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  king's  eldest 
brother,  who  praised  it  and  then  pocketed  it.  Mirabeau's  plan  was 
the  only  means  to  save  the  king's  head,  spare  France  the  reign  of 
terror,  and  the  ensuing  despotism  of  Napoleon. 

Mirabeau  sincerely  sought  to  conciliate  the  interests  of  the 
crown  and  those  of  the  nation.  His  famous  oratorical  outbursts 
of  June  2^  and  July  15  are  simply  manifestations  of  great  impa- 
tience. He  was  not  present  on  the  night  of  August  4,  and  had  no 
hand  in  the  events  of  October  5  and  6.  When  a  decree  of  the  as- 
sembly forbade  any  minister  to  hold  a  seat  in  the  body,  he  became 
the  secret  counselor  of  the  court,  demanding  an  absolute  veto  for 
the  king,  with  power  of  dissolving  the  assembly  and  the  right 
to  declare  war  and  peace.  Mirabeau's  greatest  speech  is  probably 
that  of  September  26,  1789,  upon  the  means  to  avoid  national 
bankruptcy.  ■ 


Chapter   V 

SEPARATION  OF  NATIONAL  PARTIES 

1789-1791 

THE  period  which  forms  the  subject  of  this  chapter  was 
less  remarkable  for  events  than  for  the  gradually  decided 
separation  of  parties.  In  proportion  as  changes  were  in- 
troduced into  the  state  and  the  laws,  those  whose  interests  or 
opinions  they  injured  declared  themselves  against  them.  The  revo- 
lution had  had  as  enemies,  from  the  beginning  of  the  states-general, 
the  court ;  from  the  union  of  orders  and  the  abolition  of  privileges, 
the  nobility;  from  the  establishment  of  a  single  assembly  and 
the  rejection  of  the  two  chambers,  the  ministry  and  the  partisans 
of  the  English  form  of  government.  It  had,  moreover,  against  it 
since  the  departmental  organization,  the  provinces;  since  the  de- 
cree respecting  the  property  and  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy, 
the  whole  ecclesiastical  body;  since  the  introduction  of  the  new 
military  laws,  all  the  officers  of  the  army.  It  might  seem  that  the 
assembly  ought  not  to  have  effected  so  many  changes  at  once,  so 
as  to  have  avoided  making  so  many  enemies ;  but  its  general  plans, 
its  necessities,  and  the  very  plots  of  its  adversaries  required  all 
these  innovations. 

After  October  5  and  6  the  assembly  emigrated  as  the  court 
had  done  after  July  14.  Mounier  and  Lally-Tollendal  ^  deserted  it, 
despairing  of  liberty  from  the  moment  their  views  ceased  to  be  fol- 
lowed. Too  absolute  in  their  plans,  they  wanted  the  people,  after 
having  delivered  the  assembly  on  July  14,  suddenly  to  cease  acting, 
which  was  displaying  an  entire  ignorance  of  the  impetus  of  revolu- 
tions.    When  the  people  have  once  been  made  use  of,  it  is  difficult 

1  Lally-Tollendal  was  descended  from  an  Irish  partisan  of  the  Stuarts, 
who  settled  in  France  after  the  faikire  of  the  Jacobite  cause.  His  father  was 
court-martialed  and  sentenced  to  death  for  the  reverses  experienced  by  the 
French  arms  in  India  during  the  Seven  Years'  War.  The  sentence  was  an 
unjust  one,  and  the  son  secured  a  reversal  of  the  judgment  in  1778,  too  late  to 
save  his  father's  life,  although  it  saved  his  honor.  Louis  XVI.  personally 
interested  himself  in  the  case,  which  accounts  for  Lally's  strong  support  of  the 
king's  cause. 

]01 


102  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

to  disband  them,  and  the  most  prudent  course  is  not  to  contest,  but 
to  regulate  their  intervention.  Lally-Tollendal  renounced  his  title 
of  Frenchman,  and  returned  to  England,  the  land  of  his  ancestors. 
Mounier  resigned  his  seat  when  he  saw  that  a  constitution  after  the 
English  form  was  hopeless,  preferring  this  course  to  that  of  an 
obstructionist  in  the  assembly.  He  had  been  a  leader  in  his  native 
province,  and  had  advocated  the  revival  of  the  ancient  estates  of 
Dauphine  in  place  of  the  provincial  assemblies  established  by  Xecker. 
Grenoble  had  rebelled  in  June,  1788,  and  Mounier  had  had  a  hand 
in  the  rising.  At  this  time,  however,  he  contented  himself  with 
protesting  that  the  national  assembly  had  exceeded  its  powers.  He 
retired  to  Switzerland. 

After  October  5  and  6  the  national  representatives  followed 
the  king  to  the  capital,  which  their  common  presence  had  contrib- 
uted greatly  to  tranquilize.  The  people  were  satisfied  with  pos- 
sessing the  king;  the  causes  which  had  excited  their  ebullition 
had  ceased.  The  Duke  of  Orleans,  who,  right  or  wrong,  was  con- 
sidered the  contriver  of  the  insurrection,  had  just  been  sent  away; 
he  had  accepted  a  mission  to  England;  Lafayette  was  resolved  to 
maintain  order;  the  national  guard,  animated  by  a  better  spirit,  ac- 
quired every  day  habits  of  discipline  and  obedience ;  the  corporation, 
getting  over  the  confusion  of  its  first  establishment,  began  to  have 
authority.  There  remained  but  one  cause  of  disturbance — the 
scarcity  of  provisions."  Notwithstanding  the  zeal  and  foresight 
of  the  committee  intrusted  with  the  task  of  providing  supplies, 
daily  assemblages  of  the  people  threatened  the  public  tranquillity. 
The  people,  so  easily  deceived  when  suffering,  killed  a  baker  called 
Francois,  w'no  was  unjustly  accused  as  a  monopolist.  On  October 
21  a  martial  law  v/as  proclaimed,  authorizing  the  corporation  to 
employ  force  to  disperse  the  mob.  after  having  summoned  the 
citizens  to  retire.  Power  was  vested  in  a  class  interested  in  main- 
taining order;  the  districts  and  the  national  guard  were  obedient 
to  the  assembly.  Submission  to  the  law  was  the  prevailing  passion 
of  that  epoch.     The  deputies  on  their  side  aimed  only  at  com- 

-  Durino-  July  the  price  of  the  four-pound  loaf  of  bread  had  been  fixed  at  13 
pous  6  denicrs.  After  that  there  was  no  legislation  in  regard  to  bread  till  1793. 
The  government  l^;id  started  "  relief  works  "'  during  the  hard  winter  of  17SS 
and  the  dittrihntio-i-;  tliere  made  had  drawn  thousands  of  vagrants  to  Paris. 
Seventeen  thousand  were  fed  in  August.  Not  until  Jime.  1791,  was  this  practice 
discontinued.  Ik'Iief  in  the  '"  distress "  of  Paris  must  be  taken  with  caution. 
'I  he  cause  of  disturbance  had  its  seat  in  a  moral  unrest  rather  than  in  adversitv. 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  103 

1789-1791 

pleting  the  constitution  and  effecting  the  reorganization  of  the 
state.  They  had  the  more  reason  for  hastening  their  task,  as  the 
enemies  of  the  assembly  made  use  of  what  remained  of  the  ancient 
regime,  to  occasion  it  embarrassment.  Accordingly,  it  replied  to 
each  of  their  endeavors  by  a  decree  which,  changing  the  ancient 
order  of  things,  deprived  them  of  one  of  their  means  of  attack. 

It  began  by  dividing  the  kingdom  more  equally  and  regularly. 
The  provinces,  which  had  witnessed  with  regret  the  loss  of  their 
privileges,  forming  small  states,  in  extent  too  vast  and  in  administra- 


tion too  independent,  so  that  it  was  essential  to  reduce  their  size, 
change  their  names,  and  subject  them  to  the  same  government.  On 
December  2.2  the  assembly  adopted  in  this  respect  the  project  con- 
ceived by  Sieyes  and  presented  by  Thouret  in  the  name  of  a  com- 
mittee, which  occupied  itself  constantly  on  this  subject  for  two 
months. 

France  was  divided  into  eighty-three  departments,  nearly  equal 
in  extent  and  population;  these  were  divided  into  districts,  the 
districts   into  cantons.     Their   administration   received   a   uniform 


104  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

and  hierarchical  form.  The  department  had  an  administrative 
council  composed  of  thirty-six  members  and  an  executive  directory 
composed  of  five  members:  as  the  names  indicate,  the  functions 
of  the  one  were  to  decide  and  of  the  other  to  act.  The  district 
was  organized  in  the  same  way:  although  on  a  smaller  scale,  it 
had  a  council  and  a  directory,  fewer  in  number  and  subordinate  to 
the  superior  directory  and  council.  The  canton,  composed  of  five 
or  six  parishes,  was  an  electoral,  not  an  administrative,  division ;  the 
active  citizens,  and  to  be  considered  such  it  was  necessary  to  pay 
taxes  amounting  to  three  days'  earnings,  united  in  the  canton  to 
nominate  their  deputies  and  magistrates.  Everything  in  the  new 
plan  was  subject  to  election,  but  this  had  several  degrees.  It 
appeared  imprudent  to  confide  to  the  multitude  the  choice  of  its 
delegates,  and  illegal  to  exclude  them  from  it;  this  difficult  ques- 
tion was  avoided  by  the  double  election.  The  active  citizens  of  the 
canton  named  electors  intrusted  with  nominating  the  members  of 
the  national  assembly,  the  administrators  of  the  department,  those 
of  the  district,  and  the  judges  of  tribunals;  a  criminal  court  was 
established  in  each  department,  a  civil  court  in  each  district,  and  a 
police  court  in  each  canton. 

Such  was  the  institution  of  the  department.  It  remained  to 
regulate  that  of  the  corporation:  the  administration  of  this  was 
confided  to  the  general  council  and  a  municipality,  composed  of 
members  whose  numbers  were  proportioned  to  the  population  of 
the  towns.  The  municipal  officers  were  named  immediately  by  the 
people,  and  they  alone  could  authorize  the  employment  of  armed 
force.  The  corporation  formed  the  first  step  of  the  association,  the 
kingdom  formed  the  last ;  the  department  was  intermediate  between 
the  corporation  and  the  state,  between  universal  interests  and  purely 
local  interests. 

The  working  of  the  system,  however,  disappointed  the 
authors  of  it.  Before  the  revolution  France  had  been  divided  into 
four  jurisdictions :  ( i )  Dioceses,  of  which  there  were  one  hun- 
dred and  eleven  ;  (2)  provinces,  numbering  forty-one;  (3)  gen- 
eralites  and  dependencies  of  a  fiscal  character;  (4)  military 
recruiting  areas.  Xo  state  could  have  suffered,  without  harm,  so 
violent  an  uprooting  of  its  historic  institutions  as  this  drastic  ac- 
tion. The  abrupt  break  made  by  it  with  the  past  did  much  to  de- 
stroy reverence  for  tradition  and  respect  for  law  in  the  minds  of 
the   French   people.     The   new   and   artificial   nature   of  the    sys- 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  105 

1789-1791 

tem  was  made  less  likely  to  succeed  by  the  fact  that  probably  one- 
half  of  the  authorities  in  the  cantons  and  small  municipalities  were 
unable  to  read  or  write.  Although  it  had  been  decided  that  the 
old  boundaries  and  facility  of  intercourse  should  receive  as  much 
consideration  as  possible,  yet  in  fact  the  kingdom  was  divided, 
without  heeding  historical  development,  into  83  departments,  574 
arondissements,  4730  cantons,  and  44,0x30  municipalities.  The 
acquisition  of  Avignon,  Venaissin,  and  Vaucluse  in  1791  added 
an  eighty-fourth  department;  the  department  of  the  Rhone-and- 
Loire  was  later  separated  into  two,  giving  85  departments,  and  a 
similar  division  in  the  region  of  the  Garonne  created  86.  Except 
during  Napoleon's  conquests  this  remained  the  number  of  depart- 
ments until  Napoleon  III.  added  Nice  and  Savoy  in  1859,  making 
three  new  departments.  The  loss  of  Alsace-Lorraine  in  1871  re- 
duced the  number  again  to  86,  as  France  is  to-day.  Paris  received 
a  special  organization.  The  capital  had  been  divided  after  the  fall 
of  the  Bastile  into  60  "  sections,"  which  were  not  to  have  the 
right  to  meet  together  unless  convoked  by  the  city  council.  But 
this  was  rendered  null  by  an  article  that  required  this  convocation 
whenever  asked  by  eight  sections.  For  each  section  there  was  a 
permanent  committee  of  sixteen  persons,  whose  functions  were  not 
clearly  defined.  The  question  of  the  organization  of  Paris  is  the 
pivotal  point  of  the  revolution  in  its  succeeding  phases. 

The  states  of  Languedoc  and  Brittany  protested  against  the 
new  division  of  the  kingdom,  and  on  their  side  the  parlements  of 
Metz,  Rouen,  Bordeaux,  and  Toulouse  rose  against  the  operations 
of  the  assembly  which  suppressed  the  chambres  de  vacations,  abol- 
ished the  orders,  and  declared  the  commissions  of  the  states  in- 
competent. The  partisans  of  the  ancient  regime  employed  every 
means  to  disturb  its  progress :  the  nobility  excited  the  provinces, 
the  parlements  took  resolutions,  the  clergy  issued  mandates,  and 
writers  took  advantage  of  the  liberty  of  the  press  to  attack  the  revo- 
lution. Its  two  principal  enemies  were  the  nobles  and  the  bishops. 
I^arlement,  having  no  root  in  the  nation,  formed  only  a  magistracy, 
whose  attacks  were  prevented  by  destroying  the  magistracy  itself, 
whereas  the  nobility  and  the  clergy  had  means  of  action  which  sur- 
vived the  influence  of  the  body.  The  misfortunes  of  these  two 
classes  were  caused  by  tliemselves.  After  harassing  the  revolution 
in  the  assembly,  they  afterward  attacked  it  with  open  force — the 
clergy,  by  internal   insurrection — the  nobility,  by  arming  Europe 


106  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

against  it.  They  had  great  expectations  from  anarchy,  which,  it 
is  true,  caused  France  many  evils,  but  which  was  far  from  rendering 
their  ow7i  position  better.  Let  us  now  see  how  the  hostihties  of 
tlie  clergy  were  brought  on;  for  this  purpose  we  must  go  back 
a  little. 

The  revolution  had  commenced  with  the  finances,  and  had  not 
yet  been  able  to  put  an  end  to  the  embarrassments  by  which  it  was 
caused.  More  important  objects  had  occupied  the  attention  of 
the  assemblv.  Summoned,  no  longer  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
administration,  but  to  constitute  the  state,  it  had  suspended  its 
legislative  discussions,  from  time  to  time,  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
more  pressing  necessities  of  the  treasury.  Necker  had  proposed  pro- 
visional means,  which  had  been  adopted  in  confidence,  and  almost 
without  discussion.  Despite  this  zeal,  he  did  not  without  displeasure 
see  the  finances  considered  as  subordinate  to  the  constitution, 
and  the  ministry  to  the  assembly.  A  first  loan  of  thirty  millions 
($6,000,000),  voted  on  August  9,  had  not  succeeded;  a  subsequent 
loan  of  eighty  millions  ($16,000,000),  voted  on  the  27th  of  the  same 
month,  had  been  insufficient.^  Duties  were  reduced  or  abolished, 
and  they  yielded  scarcely  anything,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  col- 
lecting them.  It  became  useless  to  have  recourse  to  public  confi- 
dence, which  refused  its  aid ;  and  in  September  Xecker  had 
proposed,  as  the  only  means,  an  extraordinary  contribution  of  a 
fourth  of  the  revenue,  to  be  paid  at  once.  Each  citizen  was  to  fix 
his  proportion  himself,  making  use  of  that  simple  form  of  oath, 
which  well  expressed  these  first  days  of  honor  and  patriotism: 
"  I  declare  with  truth." 

Mirabeau  now  caused  Xecker  to  be  invested  with  a  complete 
financial  dictatorship.  He  spoke  of  the  urgent  wants  of  the  state, 
of  the  labors  of  the  assembly,  which  did  not  permit  it  to  discuss 
the  plan  of  the  minister,  and  which  at  the  same  time  prevented  its 
examining  any  other;  of  Necker's  skill,  which  insured  the  success 
of  his  own  measure;  and  urged  the  assemljly  to  leave  witli  him 
the  responsibility  of  its  success,  by  confidently  adopting  it.  As 
some  did  not  approve  of  the  views  of  the  minister,  and  others  sus- 
pected tlie  intentions  of  ]\Tirabeau  with  respect  to  him,  he  closed 

"  Necker  had  first  ne<:^otiated  these  loans  at  five  per  cent.  The  national 
assembly  cut  the  rate  down  to  four  and  one-half.  The  American  War  had  cost 
France  between  1000  and  1200  millions,  and  part  of  this  amount  still  remained 
unpaid  and  was  included  in  the  loan  proposed  by  Necker.  Stourm,  "  Les 
Finances  de  Fancienne  regime  ct  de  la  Revolution,"  vol.  11.  p.  205. 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  107 

1789-1791 

his  speech,  one  of  the  most  eloquent  he  ever  delivered,  by  displaying' 
bankruptcy  impending,  and  exclaiming:  "Vote  this  extraordinary 
subsidy,  and  may  it  prove  sufficient!  Vote  it;  for  if  you  have 
doubts  respecting  the  means,  you  have  none  respecting  the  want, 
and  our  inability  to  supply  it.  Vote  it,  for  the  public  circumstances 
will  not  bear  delay,  and  we  shall  be  accountable  for  all  postpone- 
ment. Beware  of  asking  for  time;  misfortune  never  grants  it. 
Gentlemen,  on  the  occasion  of  a  ridiculous  motion  at  the  Palais 
Royal,  an  absurd  incursion,  which  had  never  had  any  importance, 
save  in  feeble  imaginations,  or  the  minds  of  men  of  ill  designs 
and  bad  faith,  you  once  heard  these  words,  '  Catiline  is  at  the  gates 
of  Rome,  and  yet  they  deliberate ! '  And  yet  there  were  around 
us  neither  Catiline,  nor  perils,  nor  factions,  nor  Rome.  But  now 
bankruptcy,  hideous  bankruptcy,  is  there:  it  threatens  to  consume 
you,  your  properties,  your  honor,  and  yet  you  deliberate!  "  Mira- 
beau  had  carried  away  the  assembly  by  his  oratory,  and  the  pa- 
triotic contribution  was  voted  with  unanimous  applause. 

There  was  another  important  financial  expedient  of  Necker's. 
He  had  recourse  to  a  modified  form  of  tlie  old  Bank  of  Dis- 
count, to  be  called  the  Caisse  Patriotique.  In  order  to  convert 
the  old  organization  into  a  national  bank,  the  directors  of  it  were 
to  be  chosen  by  the  national  assembly.  The  notes  to  be  put  in 
circulation  were  to  be  fixed  at  240,000,000,  and  the  state,  by  a  spe- 
cial decree  of  the  government,  was  to  guarantee  their  security.  The 
capital  of  the  Bank  of  Discount,  which  represented  at  this  time 
some  thirty  millions  in  circulation,  was  to  be  increased  to  fifty 
millions  by  the  creation  of  12,500  shares.  Numbers  of  the  deputies 
opposed  this  measure  on  the  ground  tliat  it  would  associai:e  the 
government  in  the  possible  bankruptcy  of  the  bank.  They  argued 
that  if  the  Bank  of  Discount  were  strong  enough,  it  had  no  need 
of  a  national  guarantee  to  protect  its  credit;    and  if  the  state  had 

"•^  The  original  idea  was  to  persuade  tlic  nation  to  make  a  don  patriotique — 
a  patriotic  gift — to  the  government,  payable  in  three  annual  installments. 
When  this  suggestion  failed  of  approval.  Xecker  came  forward  with  an  income 
tax  of  twenty-five  per  cent.,  from  which  he  hoped  to  acquire  400,000.000  francs! 
Tt  is  true  that  in  favor  of  thi^  mea-ure  Mirabeau.  who  had  a  horror  of  bank- 
ruptcy in  the  government,  made  one  of  his  greatest  speeches.  But  it  is  hardly 
accurate  to  say  that  it  ''  was  voted  with  unanimous  applause."  Necker's  enemies 
adopted  the  measure,  hoping  that  he  and  it  would  fall  together.  Cf.  Morris, 
"  Diary  and  Letters,"  vol.  T.  p.  162.  The  plan  failed  from  the  very  beginning. 
Morris  writes  on  September  20:  "The  finances  .  .  .  seem  to  be  going  fast 
to  the  devil." 


108  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

the  credit,  it  ought  not  to  associate  its  name  with  a  private  corpora- 
tion. Necker  proposed  this  expedient  on  November  14,  1789;  it 
was  adopted  on  December  17,  and  on  December  19  the  Caisse 
Patriotique  was  opened  to  the  pnbhc.  Six  days  afterward  the  notes 
of  the  bank  were  two  per  cent,  below  par  value.  The  patriotic 
loan  was  a  failure.  By  January,  1791,  it  had  amounted  to  only 
thirty  millions. 

In  the  meantime,  immediately  after  the  granting  of  the  pa- 
triotic loan,  September  26,  1789,  there  arose  a  movement  which, 
while  having  no  direct  bearing  on  the  issue  of  assignats,  is  of  in- 
terest as  showing  the  feeling  that  existed  throughout  France  with 
reference  to  the  condition  of  the  treasury.  This  was  the  outbreak 
of  enthusiasm  which  manifested  itself  in  what  were  called  the 
"  patriotic  gifts."  Each  day  the  president  of  the  assembly  an- 
nounced new  offerings.  The  announcement  is  made  that  "  M. 
Carre  and  his  wife  offer  48  livres ;  M.  de  Montmouron  makes 
a  gift  of  8000  livres  " ;  another  sends  in  the  annual  inter- 
est on  a  loan.  The  comedians  of  the  king  raise  a  subscription 
of  23,000  livres,  payable  the  following  January.  A  collegian  offers 
a  box  of  medals.  One  of  the  officers  of  the  state  offers  liis  services 
without  salary.  A  manufactory  contributes  five  per  cent,  of  its 
profits.  Watch  chains,  silver  buckles,  earrings,  jewelry  of  all  sorts, 
are  offered  in  great  abundance.  Besides  these  little  gifts  there  were 
many  larger  ones.  The  young  business  men  of  Paris  give  6029 
livres,  a  gentleman  servant  of  the  king  6000  livres,  an  "  intendant 
dc  la  guerre  26,000  livres." 

But  this  resource  had  only  afforded  momentary  relief.  The 
finances  of  the  revolution  depended  on  a  more  daring  and  more 
vast  measure.  It  was  necessary  not  only  to  support  the  revolution, 
but  to  repair  the  immense  deficit  which  stopped  its  progress  and 
tlireatened  its  future  destiny.  One  way  alone  remained — to  declare 
ecclesiastical  property  national,  and  to  sell  it  for  the  rescue  of  the 
state.  Public  interest  prescribed  this  course ;  and  it  could  be  done 
with  justice,  the  clergy  not  being  the  proprietors,  but  the  simple 
administrators  of  this  property,  devoted  to  religion,  and  not  to  the 
priests.  The  nation,  therefore,  by  taking  on  itself  the  expenses  of 
the  altar,  and  tlie  support  of  its  ministers,  might  procure  and  ap- 
propriate an  important  financial  resource  and  obtain  a  great 
political  result. 

It  was  important  not  to  leave  an  independent  body,  and  espe- 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  109 

1789-1791 

cially  an  ancient  body,  any  longer  in  the  state;  for  in  a  time  of 
revolution  everything  ancient  is  hostile.  The  clergy,  by  its  formid- 
able hierarchy  and  its  opulence,  a  stranger  to  the  new  changes, 
would  have  remained  as  a  republic  in  the  kingdom.  Its  form  be- 
longed to  another  system :  when  there  was  no  state,  but  only 
bodies,  each  order  had  provided  for  its  own  regulation  and  exist- 
ence. The  clergy  had  its  decretals,  the  nobility  its  law  of  fiefs, 
the  people  its  corporations ;  everything  was  independent,  because 
everything  was  private.  But  now  that  functions  were  becoming 
public,  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  magistracy  of  the  priesthood  as 
they  had  made  one  of  royalty;  and  in  order  to  make  them  de- 
pendent on  the  state  it  was  essential  they  should  be  paid  by  it,  and 
to  resume  from  the  monarch  his  domains,  from  the  clergy  its  prop- 
erty, by  bestowing  on  each  of  them  suitable  endowments.  This 
great  operation,  which  destroyed  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  regime, 
was  effected  in  the  following  manner : 

One  of  the  most  pressing  necessities  was  the  abolition  of  tithes. 
As  these  were  a  tax  paid  by  the  rural  population  to  the  clergy,  the 
sacrifice  would  be  for  the  advantage  of  those  who  were  oppressed 
by  them.  Accordingly,  after  declaring  they  were  redeemable  on  the 
night  of  August  4,  they  were  suppressed  on  the  nth,  without  pro- 
viding any  equivalent.  The  clergy  opposed  the  measure  at  first, 
but  afterward  had  the  good  sense  to  consent.  The  Archbishop  of 
Paris  gave  up  tithes  in  the  name  of  all  his  brethren,  and  by  this 
act  of  prudence  he  showed  himself  faithful  to  the  line  of  conduct 
adopted  by  the  privileged  classes  on  the  night  of  August  4;  but 
this  was  the  extent  of  his  sacrifices.  The  Abbe  Maury  precipitated 
the  discussion  on  September  24  by  suggesting  the  restoration  of  the 
tithes  to  the  clergy.  It  is  interesting,  at  this  point,  to  recall  that 
in  June  the  clergy  had  offered  the  church  property  as  a  guarantee 
of  the  public  debt,  as  had  been  done  before  in  France,  under  Charles 
IX.  and  Henry  HI.  (1560-1589).  At  that  time  it  would  still  have 
been  possible  to  save  the  credit  of  the  state  by  the  generous  offer. 
Now,  the  progress  of  the  revolution  had  annihilated  the  credit  of 
the  state. 

On  October  10,  1789,  the  debate  respecting  the  possession  of 
ecclesiastical  property  began.  Talleyrand,  Bishop  of  Autun,  pro- 
posed to  the  clergy  that  they  should  renounce  it  in  favor  of  the 
nation,  which  would  employ  it  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  worship 
and  liquidating  its  debt.     He  proved  the  justice  and  propriety  of 


110  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

this  measure,  and  he  showed  the  great  advantages  which  would 
accrue  to  the  state.  The  property  of  the  clergy  amounted  to  several 
thousand  millions  of  francs.  After  paying  its  debts,  providing 
for  the  ecclesiastical  services  and  that  of  hospitals,  and  the  endow- 
ment of  its  ministers,  sufficient  w'ould  still  remain  to  extinguish 
the  public  debt,  whether  permanent  or  annuities,  and  to  reimburse 
the  money  paid  for  judicial  offices.  The  clergy  rose  against  this 
proposition.  The  discussion  became  very  animated ;  and  it  was 
decided,  in  spite  of  their  resistance,  that  they  were  not  proprietors, 
but  simple  depositaries  of  the  wealth  that  the  piety  of  kings  and  of 
the  faithful  had  devoted  to  religion,  and  that  the  nation,  on  pro- 
viding for  the  service  of  public  worship,  had  a  right  to  recall  such 
property.  The  decree  which  placed  it  at  its  disposal  was  passed  on 
December  2,  1789. 

From  that  moment  the  hatred  of  the  clergy  to  the  revolution 
broke  out.  At  the  commencement  of  the  states-general  it  had  been 
less  intractable  than  the  nobility,  in  order  to  preserve  its  riches ;  it 
now  sliowed  itself  as  opposed  as  they  to  the  new  regime,  of  which 
it  became  the  most  tenacious  and  furious  foe.  Yet,  as  the  decree 
placed  ecclesiastical  property  at  the  disposal  of  the  nation,  without, 
as  yet,  displacing  it,  it  did  not  break  out  into  opposition  at  once. 
The  administration  was  still  confided  to  it,  and  it  hoped  that  the 
possessions  of  the  church  might  serve  as  a  mortgage  for  the  debt, 
but  would  not  be  sold. 

It  w^as,  indeed,  difficult  to  effect  the  sale,  which,  however,  could 
not  be  delayed,  the  treasury  only  subsisting  on  anticipations,  and 
the  exchequer,  which  supplied  it  with  bills,  beginning  to  lose  all 
credit  on  account  of  the  .number  it  had  issued. 

They  obtained  their  end,  and  proceeded  with  the  new  financial 
organization  in  the  following  manner:  The  necessities  of  this  and 
the  following  year  required  a  sale  of  this  property  to  the  amount 
of  four  hundred  millions  of  francs;  to  facilitate  it,  the  corporation 
of  Paris  made  considerable  subscriptions,  and  the  municipalities  of 
the  kingdom  followed  the  example  of  Paris.  They  were  to  return 
to  the  treasury  the  equivalent  of  the  property  they  received  from  the 
state  to  sell  to  private  individuals;  but  they  wanted  money,  and 
they  could  not  deliver  the  amount  since  they  had  not  yet  met  with 
purchasers.  What  was  to  be  done?  they  supplied  municipal  notes 
intended  to  reimburse  the  public  creditors  until  they  should  acquire 
the  funds  necessary  for  v/ithdrawing  the  notes.     Once  arrived  thus 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  111 

1789-1791 

far,  they  saw  that,  instead  of  municipal  notes,  it  would  be  better 
to  create  exchequer  bills,  which  would  have  a  compulsory  circula- 
tion and  answer  the  purpose  of  specie :  this  was  simplifying  the 
operation  by  generalizing  it.  In  this  way  the  assignats  had  their 
origin. 

The  invention  was  of  great  utility  to  the  revolution,  and  alone 
secured  the  sale  of  ecclesiastical  property.  The  assignats,  which 
were  a  means  of  payment  for  the  state,  became  a  pledge  to  the 
creditors.  The  latter  by  receiving  them  were  not  obliged  to  accept 
payment  in  land  for  what  they  had  furnished  in  money.  But  sooner 
or  later  the  assignats  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  men  disposed  to 
realize  them,  and  then  they  were  to  be  destroyed  at  the  same  time 
that  they  ceased  to  be  a  pledge.  In  order  that  they  might  fulfill 
their  design,  their  forced  circulation  was  required ;  to  render  them 
safe,  the  quantity  was  limited  to  the  value  of  the  property  proposed 
for  sale ;  and  that  they  might  not  fall  by  too  sudden  a  change,  they 
were  made  to  bear  interest.  The  assemb]}^  from  the  moment  of 
their  issue,  wished  to  give  them  all  the  consistency  of  money.  It 
was  hoped  that  specie  concealed  by  distrust  would  immediately 
reappear,  and  that  the  assignats  would  enter  into  competition  with 
it.  Mortgage  made  them  quite  as  sure,  and  interest  made  them 
more  profitable;  but  this  interest,  which  was  attended  with  much 
inconvenience,  disappeared  after  the  first  issue.  Such  was  the 
origin  of  the  paper  money  issued  under  so  much  necessity,  and  with 
so  much  prudence,  which  enabled  the  revolution  to  accomplish  such 
great  things,  and  which  was  brought  into  discredit  by  causes  that 
belonged  less  to  its  nature  than  to  the  subsequent  use  made  of  it. 

When  the  clergy  saw  by  a  decree  of  December  29  the  admin- 
istration of  church  property  transferred  to  the  municipalities,  the 
sale  they  were  about  to  make  of  it  to  the  value  of  four  hundred 
millions  of  francs,  and  the  creation  of  a  paper  money  calculated  to 
facilitate  this  spoliation  and  render  it  definitive,  it  left  nothing  un- 
done to  secure  the  inter\"ention  of  God  in  the  cause  of  its  wealth. 
It  made  a  last  attempt :  it  offered  to  realize  in  its  own  name  the 
loan  of  four  hundred  millions  of  francs,  which  was  rejected,  be- 
cause otherwise,  after  having  decided  that  it  was  not  the  proprietor 
of  clmrch  property,  it  would  thus  have  again  been  admitted  to  be 
so.  Tt  then  sought  every  means  of  impeding  the  operations  of  the 
municipalities.  In  the  south  it  raised  Catliolics  against  Protes- 
tants ;    in  the  pulpit  it  alarmed  consciences ;    in  the  confessional  it 


112  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

treated  sales  as  sacrilegious,  and  in  the  tribune  it  strove  to  render 
the  sentiments  of  the  assembly  suspected. 

Such  was  the  disposition  of  the  clergy,  when,  in  the  months 
of  June  and  July,  1790,  the  assembly  turned  its  attention  to  its 
internal  organization.  The  clergy  waited  with  impatience  for  this 
opportunity  of  exciting  a  schism.  This  project,  the  adoption  of 
which  caused  so  much  evil,  went  to  reestablish  the  church  on  its 
ancient  basis,  and  to  restore  the  purity  of  its  doctrine;  it  was  not 
the  work  of  philosophers,  but  of  austere  Christians,  who  washed  to 
support  religion  by  the  state,  and  to  make  them  concur  mutually  in 
promoting  its  happiness.  The  reduction  of  bishoprics  to  the  same 
number  as  the  departments,  the  conformity  of  the  ecclesiastical  cir- 
cumscription with  the  civil  circumscription,  the  nomination  of 
bishops  by  electors,  who  also  chose  deputies  and  administrators, 
the  suppression  of  chapters  and  the  substitution  of  vicars  for 
canons  were  the  chief  features  of  this  plan;  there  was  nothing  in 
it  that  attacked  the  dogmas  or  worship  of  the  church.  For  a  long 
time  the  bishops  and  other  ecclesiastics  had  been  nominated  by  the 
people;  as  for  diocesan  limits,  the  operation  was  purely  material, 
and  in  no  respect  religious.  It  moreover  generously  provided  for 
the  support  of  the  members  of  the  church,  and  if  the  high  digni- 
taries saw  their  revenues  reduced,  the  cures,  who  formed  the  most 
numerous  portion,  had  theirs  augmented. 

The  consequences  of  this  reorganization  were  enormous.  The 
bounds  of  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  were  older  than  any  other 
sort.  At  the  time  of  the  recognition  of  Christianity  by  Constantine 
(311  A.  D.)  the  dioceses  of  the  church  had  largely  coincided  with  the 
provincial  jurisdictions  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  fact  that  a  con- 
stitution nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  old  was  wiped  out  by  decree 
cannot  be  lightly  regarded.  It  provided :  ( i )  That  each  department 
should  be  a  diocese;  (2)  that  pastors  and  bishops  should  be  elected 
by  citizens;  (3)  that  church  authorities  should  be  subject  to  control 
of  civil  authorities;  (4)  that  all  priests  should  be  required  to  take 
the  oath  of  loyalty  to  nation,  laws,  and  king,  and  to  support  the 
new  constitution,  although  they  could  not  know  what  this  meant, 
for  nobody  as  yet  knew  what  the  new  constitution  would  be,  and 
did  not  until  a  year  later.  The  death  of  the  Bishop  of  Grampy 
brought  the  question  up.  The  assembly  rendered  two  decrees, 
giving  local  courts  jurisdiction  in  such  cases  and  depriving  priests 
of  salary  who  refused  oath.     A  majority  of  the  clergy  refused  it 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  113 

1789-1791 

and  were  deprived  of  their  seats  in  the  assembly.  The  nation  was 
henceforth  divided  in  the  great  schism.  It  irrevocably  determined 
the  future  course  of  the  revolution  and  opened  the  breach  between 
the  king  and  the  revolution  in  every  Christian  conscience.  It  made 
a  gulf  which  could  not  be  bridged  over,  and  therefore  it  doomed  the 
monarchy  to  destruction.  But  the  question  had  another  defect: 
the  last  possibility  was  lost  to  establish  between  the  king  and  Mira- 
beau  that  confidence  which  was  the  prerequisite  to  the  carrying  out 
of  the  latter's  plans.  Mirabeau  was  in  a  high  degree  responsible 
for  the  objectionable  decrees,  and  the  king  could  never  throw  him- 
self into  the  arms  of  a  man  who  had  done  violence  to  his  con- 
science, even  if  he  were  fully  convinced  that  this  man  was  the 
only  one  who  could  save  his  life  and  his  throne. 

Only  nine  archbishops  out  of  135  took  the  oath — among  them 
the  Cardinal-Archbishop  of  Sens,  Lomenie  de  Brienne,  Jarente, 
Archbishop  of  Orleans,  and  Talleyrand.  July  24  was  set  as  the 
time  limit  of  oath,  and  on  November  2y,  1790,  all  bishops  and  cures 
not  taking  the  oath  were  declared  refractories.  It  was  reluctantly 
sanctioned  by  Louis  XVI.  on  December  21,  1790. 

The  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy  was  eagerly  seized  upon 
by  those  opposed  to  the  revolution.  From  the  outset  of  the  discus- 
sion the  Archbishop  of  Aix  protested  against  the  principles  of  the 
ecclesiastical  committees.  In  his  opinion  the  appointment  or  sus- 
pension of  bishops  by  civil  authority  was  opposed  to  discipline;  and 
when  the  decree  was  put  to  the  vote,  the  Bishop  of  Clermont  re- 
capitulated the  principles  advanced  by  the  Archbishop  of  Aix  and 
left  the  hall  at  the  head  of  all  the  dissentient  members.  The  decree 
passed,  but  the  clergy  declared  war  against  the  revolution.  From 
that  moment  it  leagued  more  closely  with  the  dissentient  nobility. 
Equally  reduced  to  the  common  condition,  the  two  privileged 
classes  employed  all  their  means  to  stop  the  progress  of  reform. 

The  departments  were  scarcely  formed  when  agents  were  sent 
by  them  to  assemble  the  electors  and  try  new  nominations.  They 
did  not  hope  to  obtain  a  favorable  choice,  but  aimed  at  fomenting 
divisions  between  the  assembly  and  the  departments.  This  project 
was  denounced  from  the  tribune,  and  failed  as  soon  as  it  was  made 
known.  Its  authors  then  went  to  work  in  another  way.  The 
period  allotted  to  the  deputies  of  the  states-general  had  expired, 
their  power  having  been  h'mited  to  one  year,  according  to  the  de- 
sire of  the  districts.      The  aristocrats  availed  themselves  of  this 


114  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

circumstance  to  require  a  fresh  election  of  the  assembly.  Had 
they  gained  this  point,  they  would  have  acquired  a  great  advantage, 
and  with  this  view  they  themselves  appealed  to  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people.  "  Without  doubt,"  replied  Chapelier,  "  all  sovereignty 
rests  with  the  people :  but  this  principle  has  no  application  to  the 
present  case ;  it  would  be  destroying  the  constitution  and  liberty  to 
renew  the  assembly  before  the  constitution  is  completed.  This  is, 
indeed,  the  hope  of  those  who  wish  to  see  liberty  and  the  constitu- 
tion perish,  and  to  witness  the  return  of  the  distinction  of  orders, 
of  prodigality  in  the  public  expenditure,  and  of  the  abuses  that 
spring  from  despotism."  At  this  moment  all  eyes  were  turned  to 
the  Right  and  rested  on  the  Abbe  Maury.  "  Send  those  people 
to  the  Chatelet,"  said  the  latter  sharply ;  "  or  if  you  do  not  know 
them,  do  not  speak  of  them."  "  The  constitution,"  continued 
Chapelier,  "  can  only  be  made  by  one  assembly.  Besides,  the  former 
electors  no  longer  exist;  the  bailiwicks  are  used  in  the  departments, 
the  orders  are  no  longer  separate.  The  clause  respecting  the  limi- 
tation of  power  is  consequently  without  value ;  it  will  therefore  be 
contrary  to  the  constitution,  if  the  deputies  do  not  retain  their  seats 
in  this  assembly ;  their  oath  commands  them  to  continue  there,  and 
public  interest  requires  it." 

"You  entangle  us  in  sophisms,"  replied  the  Abl^e  ]\Iaury; 
"  how  long  have  we  been  a  national  convention  ?  You  talk  of  the 
oath  we  took  on  June  20,  without  considering  that  it  cannot 
weaken  that  which  we  made  to  our  constituents.  Besides,  gen- 
tlemen, the  constitution  is  completed ;  you  have  now  only  to  declare 
that  the  king  enjoys  the  plenitude  of  the  executive  power.  We 
are  here  for  the  sole  purpose  of  securing  to  the  French  nation  the 
right  of  influencing  its  legislation,  of  establishing  the  principle  that 
taxation  shall  be  consented  to  by  the  people,  and  of  securing  our 
liberty.  Yes,  the  constitution  is  made ;  and  I  will  oppose  every 
decree  calculated  to  limit  the  rights  of  the  people  over  their  repre- 
sentatives. The  founders  of  liberty  ought  to  respect  the  liberty  of 
the  nation ;  the  nation  is  above  us  all,  and  we  destroy  our  authority 
by  limiting  the  national  authority." 

The  Abbe  ^laury's  speech  was  received  with  loud  applause 
from  tlie  Right.  IMirabeau  immediately  ascended  the  tribune. 
"  It  is  asked,"  said  he.  "  how  long  the  deputies  of  the  people  have 
been  a  national  convention?  T  answer,  from  the  day  when,  find- 
ing the  d(K>r  of  their  session-house  surrounded  bv  soldiers,  tliev 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  115 

1789-1791 

went  and  assembled  where  they  could,  and  swore  to  perish  rather 
than  betray  or  abandon  the  rights  of  the  nation.  Whatever  our 
powers  were,  that  day  their  nature  was  changed ;  and  whatever 
powers  we  may  have  exercised,  our  efforts  and  labors  have  ren- 
dered them  legitimate,  and  the  adhesion  of  the  nation  has  sanctified 
them.  You  all  remember  the  saying  of  the  great  man  of  antiquity, 
who  had  neglected  legal  forms  to  save  his  country.  Summoned 
by  a  factious  tribune  to  confess  that  he  had  violated  the  laws,  he 
replied,  'I  swear  I  have  saved  my  country!'  Gentlemen,"  he 
exclaimed,  turning  to  the  deputies  of  the  commons,  "  I  swear  that 
you  have  saved  France!  " 

The  assembly  then  rose  by  a  spontaneous  movement  and  de- 
clared that  the  session  should  not  close  till  their  task  was 
accomplished. ° 

Anti-revolutionary  efforts  were  increasing,  at  the  same  time, 
without  the  assembly.  Attempts  were  made  to  seduce  or  disor- 
ganize the  army,  but  the  assembly  took  prudent  measures  in  this 
respect.  It  gained  the  affections  of  the  troops  by  rendering  pro- 
motion independent  of  the  court,  and  of  titles  of  nobility.  The 
Count  d'Artois  and  the  Prince  de  Conde,  who  had  retired  to  Turin 
after  July  14,  corresponded  with  Lyons  and  the  south;  but  the 
emigrants,  not  having  yet  the  external  influence  they  aftenvard 
acquired  at  Coblentz,  and  failing  to  meet  with  internal  support,  all 
their  efforts  were  vain.  The  attempts  at  insurrection,  originating 
with  the  clergy  in  Languedoc,  had  as  little  effect.  They  brought 
on  some  transient  disturbances,  but  did  not  effect  a  religious  war.** 
Time  is  necessary  to  form  a  ])arty ;  still  more  is  required  to  induce 
it  to  decide  on  serious  hostilities.  A  more  practicable  design  was 
that  of  carrying  oft*  the  king  and  conveying  him  to  Peronne.  The 
Marquis  de  Favras,  with  the  secret  support  of  Monsieur,  the  king's 

''  The  national  assembly  met  every  flay  in  the  week,  inclndin,<T  Sundays, 
generally  hoklinp^  two  sessions  each  day,  one  at  Q  a.  m.,  the  other  in  the  evening. 
After  March,  1790,  a  regular  routine  was  adopted,  three  days  being  devoted 
to  financial  considerations  and  four  to  the  formation  of  the  constitution.  The 
eveni)i.g  sessions  were  occupied  with  social  or  casual  business.  Aulard,  "  Lcs 
Oratcurs  dc  I'Asscmblcc  coiisliluciitc,"  pp.  -13-45- 

'I'liis  may  conveniently  he  made  the  place  to  note  a  measure  which  Mignet 
docs  not  mention,  tlie  Ir.w  of  December  24,  T7S9,  declaring  Protestants,  Jews, 
and  actors  eligil)le  for  all  civil  and  military  oftTces. 

f' There  is  an  excellent  work  upon  this  subject  by  Ernest  Daudet,  "Lcs 
Coniiirafiinjs  rnyalislcs  du  Midi."  Paris,  1881.  Cf.  Von  Sybel,  "French  Revo- 
lution." vol.  T.  p.  227. 


116  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

brother,  was  preparing  to  execute  it,  when  it  was  discovered.  The 
Chatelet  condemned  to  death  this  intrepid  adventurer,  who  had 
failed  in  his  enterprise  through  undertaking  it  with  too  much  dis- 
playJ  The  king's  flight,  after  the  events  of  October,  could  only 
be  effected  furtively,  as  it  subsequently  happened  at  Varennes. 

The  position  of  the  court  was  equivocal  and  embarrassing. 
It  encouraged  every  anti-revolutionary  enterprise  and  avowed 
none;  it  felt  more  than  ever  its  weakness  and  dependence  on  the 
assembly;  and  while  desirous  of  throwing  off  the  yoke,  feared  to 
make  the  attempt  because  success  appeared  difficult.  Accordingly, 
it  excited  opposition  without  openly  cooperating  in  it ;  with  some 
it  dreamed  of  the  restoration  of  the  ancient  regime,  with  others  it 
only  aimed  at  modifying  the  revolution.  Mirabeau  had  been  re- 
cently in  treaty  with  it.  After  having  been  one  of  the  chief 
authors  of  reform,  he  sought  to  give  it  stability  by  enchaining  fac- 
tion. His  object  was  to  convert  the  court  to  the  revolution,  not  to 
give  up  the  revolution  to  the  court.  The  support  he  offered  was 
constitutional ;  he  could  not  offer  any  other ;  for  his  power  depended 
on  his  popularity,  and  his  popularity  on  his  principles.  But  he  was 
wrong  in  suffering  it  to  be  bought.  Had  not  his  immense  neces- 
sities obliged  him  to  accept  money  and  sell  his  counsels,®  he  would 
not  have  been  more  blamable  than  the  unalterable  Lafayette,  the 
Lameths  and  the  Girondins,  who  successively  negotiated  with  it. 
But  none  of  them  gained  the  confidence  of  the  court ;  it  had  recourse 
to  them  only  in  extremity.  By  their  means  it  endeavored  to 
suspend  the  revolution,  while  by  the  means  of  the  aristocracy 
it  tried  to  destroy  it.  Of  all  the  popular  leaders  Mirabeau  had 
perhaps  the  greatest  ascendency  over  the  court,  because  he  was  the 
most  winning   and  had  the  strongest  mind. 

■*  The  nature  and  extent  of  this  plot  are  alike  a  matter  of  doubt.  It  is 
not  certain  whether  a  counter-revolution  on  a  formidable  scale  was  planned, 
or  only  the  escape  of  the  king.  Favras'  last  words  on  the  scaffold  were :  "  It 
is  not  I  who  w^as  the  chief  of  the  plot,  but  they  needed  a  victim  and  took  me." 
Cf.  "Revue  de  la  Revolution  frangaise,"  vol.  V.  p.  64.  He  never  divulged  the 
secret. 

*  La  !\Iarque  says:  "  Mirabeau's  worst  enemies  were  his  creditors."  His 
father  had  died  in  the  first  month  of  the  revolution  and  ^Mirabeau  inherited 
enough  to  pay  his  debts,  but  he  was  too  much  absorbed  in  politics  to  attend  to  his 
personal  affairs.  He  accepted  from  the  king,  first,  the  payment  of  his  debts, 
amounting  to  something  over  200,000  livres;  secondly,  a  payment  of  6000 
a  month  to  pay  his  running  expenses;  and  thirdly,  and  for  this  he  had  not 
extenuating  explanation,  the  promise  that  he  would  receive  a  million  if  he 
would  remain  faithful  to  the  engagement  until  the  end  of  the  assembly. 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  117 

1789-1791 

Mirabeau  sent  on  May  lo,  1790,  a  written  statement  of  his 
promises.  But  if  anything  was  to  be  effected,  it  was  necessarj- 
that  Mirabeau  have  also  the  power  to  act.  His  written  advice, 
clandestinely  put  into  the  hands  of  the  king,  would  at  best  elicit 
reluctant  consent,  but  unless  the  character  of  the  king  underwent  a 
radical  change,  his  accepting  it  so  as  to  carry  it  out  with  determina- 
tion was  absolutely  out  of  the  question. 

The  assembly  worked  unceasingly  at  the  constitution  in  the 
midst  of  these  intrigues  and  plots.  It  decreed  the  new  judicial  or- 
ganization of  France.  All  the  new  magistracies  were  temporary. 
Under  the  absolute  monarchy  all  powers  emanated  from  the 
throne,  and  all  functionaries  were  appointed  by  the  king ;  under  the 
constitutional  monarchy  all  powers  emanating  from  the  people,  the 
functionaries  were  to  be  appointed  by  it.  The  throne  alone  was 
transmissible;  the  other  powers,  being  the  property  neither  of  a 
man  nor  of  a  family,  were  neither  of  life-tenure  nor  hered- 
itar}'. 

The  legislation  of  that  period  depended  on  one  sole  principle, 
the  sovereignty  of  the  nation.  The  judicial  functions  had  them- 
selves that  changeable  character.  Trial  by  jury,  a  democratic  in- 
stitution formerly  common  to  nearly  all  the  Continent,  but  which  in 
England  alone  had  survived  the  encroachments  of  feudalism  and 
the  throne,  was  introduced  into  criminal  causes.  For  civil  causes 
special  judges  were  nominated.  Fixed  courts  were  established,  two 
courts  of  appeal  to  prevent  error,  and  a  cour  de  cassation  intended 
to  secure  the  presen-ation  of  the  protecting  forms  of  the  law.  This 
formidable  power,  when  it  proceeds  from  the  throne,  can  only  be 
independent  by  being  fixed :  but  it  must  be  temporary  when  it 
proceeds  from  the  people,  because,  while  depending  on  all,  it  de- 
pends upon  no  one. 

The  new  judicial  organization  was  more  commendable  than 
most  of  the  other  features  of  the  constitution.  But  its  completion 
was  deferred  until  October,  1790,  and  until  it  could  be  put  in 
operation  France  was  virtually  without  courts.  Thus  lawlessness 
and  anarchy  profited.  Trial  by  jury  did  not  extend  to  civil  causes. 
On  May  5,  1790,  the  motion  passed  that  judges  should  be  elected 
by  the  people,  for  six  years.  Each  canton  was  to  have  a  justice  of 
the  peace.  Robespierre  said  that  the  duty  of  the  cour  de  cassation 
was  "  to  wage  war  against  the  adulterers  of  the  moral  existence  of 
the  people." 


118  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

In  another  matter,  quite  as  important,  the  right  of  making 
peace  or  war,  the  assembly  decided  a  new  and  dehcate  question, 
and  this  in  a  sure,  just,  and  prompt  manner,  after  one  of  the  most 
kuninous  and  eloquent  discussions  that  ever  distinguished  its  sit- 
tings. As  peace  and  war  belonged  more  to  action  than  to  will,  it 
confided,  contrary  to  the  usual  rule,  the  initiative  to  the  king.  He 
who  was  best  able  to  judge  of  its  fitness  was  to  propose  the  ques- 
tion, but  it  was  left  to  the  legislative  body  to  decide  it. 

The  definition  of  the  war  power  in  the  constitution  was  forced 
forward  by  the  prospect  of  war  between  England  and  Spain  over 
Nootka  Sound  (Vancouver),  in  Alay,  1790.  By  the  Family  Com- 
pact of  1762  France  had  become  an  ally  of  Spain,  and  there 
was;  therefore,  prospect  of  France  being  drawn  into  the  coming 
struggle.  The  king  had  been  induced  by  the  warlike  attitude  of 
England  to  order  fourteen  ships  of  the  line  to  be  got  ready  for  the 
campaign.  War  had  a  number  of  partisans  among  the  people  of 
influence.  A  group  animated  by  the  war  fever,  was  headed  by  La- 
fayette, partly  because  the  part  of  a  great  general  and  a  con- 
quering hero  suited  his  fancy,  for  his  exploits  in  the  American 
Revolution  had,  in  his  own  mind  at  least,  settled  the  question  of  his 
military  genius  without  a  doubt,  and  partly  because  he  wanted  to 
humor  his  old  aversion  to  England. 

Very  different  from  Lafayette's  position  toward  the  question 
was  that  of  the  Jacobins.  The  war  rumors  were  w-elcome  to  them, 
and  the  war  apprehensions  they  fanned  with  all  the  characteristic 
energy  of  every  radicalism.  What  other  subject  could  they  have 
f(;und  so  apt  to  stir  all  the  strongest  passions  of  the  human  nature 
in  tlie  most  violent  excitement  as  war?  But  though  the  Jacobins 
made  the  most  of  war  rumors,  and  war  apprehensions,  they  dreaded 
nothing  more  than  a  war.  They  so  little  understood  the  true  na- 
ture of  the  legitimate  growth  of  their  own  policy  that  they  were 
conviiiced  that  a  war  would  result  in  at  once  propping  up  the 
tottering  tb.rone. 

This  delusion  that  the  war  would  prop  up  the  throne  was 
shared  by  some  others,  who  thouglit  that  the  best  way  to  quench 
the  fire  in  tlie  interir^r  was  to  send  the  turbulent  elements  to  the 
frontier.  But  it  was  a  mistake  to  think  that  those  who  made 
July  14  and  Octr)ber  5,  and  wh.o  afterward  carried  through  the 
wholesale  bnlchen,-  in  the  September  massacres,  would  be  the  most 
eager  to  hurry  to  the  frontier  to  face  the  enemv. 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  119 

1789-1791 

The  Left  wanted  the  Right  to  declare  war  and  peace  to  be 
vested  in  the  national  or  legislative  assembly.  The  Right  con- 
tended that  it  must  remain  the  exclusive  prerogative  of  the  crown. 
The  discussion  lasted  several  days,  and  both  parties  had  taken  the 
floor  when  Mirabeau  took  it.  This  speech  is  one  of  his  best  ef- 
forts. The  motion  with  which  he  closed  his  speech  commenced  by 
declaring  that  the  right  of  peace  and  war  belonged  with  the  nation, 
and  then  he  proceeded  to  state  how  and  to  whom  the  exercising 
power  should  be  delegated  by  the  nation.  The  right  to  watch  over 
the  external  safety  is  confided  in  the  king.  He  alone  is  the  organ 
of  all  international  relations.  He  negotiates  and  makes  the 
preparations  for  war,  but  when  the  legislative  body  has  expressed 
its  dissatisfaction  with  the  war,  the  executive  is  bound  to  take  all 
measures  calculated  to  bring  about  its  immediate  cessation. 

Barnave  was  charged  with  refuting  him  from  the  rostrum. 
He  was  a  keen  dialectician  and  an  expert  in  supporting  his  dialec- 
tics with  venomous  insinuations.  His  leading  idea  was  that  the 
constitution  was  a  division  of  powers,  based  on  the  fact  that  the 
expression  of  the  general  will  is  exclusively  the  province  of  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people.  jNIirabeau  replied  with  the  coldest 
and  most  sober  reasoning.  He  showed  that  Barnave  presumed  the 
legislative  power  and  the  legislative  body  to  be  identical.  The 
principle  underlying  the  constitution  was  that  they  are  not.  Ac- 
cording to  the  constitution  the  legislative  power  was  not  vested 
exclusively  in  the  legislative  body,  but  in  tlie  legislative  body 
conjointly  with  the  king.  The  simplest  legislative  act  had  been 
made  dependent  upon  the  approval  of  the  king  till  the  time  for  the 
suspensive  veto  had  expired  with  regard  to  peace  and  war;  but 
just  where  all  questions  of  expediency  imperatively  demanded  his 
cooperation,  the  other  delegate  of  the  nation — the  king — was  not 
to  be  deprived  of  his  share  in  the  legislative  power, 

Barnave  tried  to  answer  him,  but  no  answer  was  possible.  A 
large  majority  voted  with  IMirabeau. 

The  popular  torrent,  after  having  burst  forth  against  the 
ancient  regime,  gradually  subsided  into  its  bed ;  new'  dykes  re- 
strained it  on  all  sides.  The  ^'overnment  of  the  revolution  was 
rapidlv  becoming  established.  The  assembly  had  given  to  the  new 
regime  its  monarch,  its  national  representation,  its  territorial  di- 
vision, its  armed  force,  its  municipal  and  administrative  power,  its 
popular  tribunals,  its  currency,  its  clergy:  it  had  made  an  arrange- 


120  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

i*v  J-    **  1789-1791 

ment  with  respect  to  its  debt,  and  it  had  found  means  to  reconstruct 
property  without  injustice. 

From  the  end  of  the  year  1789  "fraternal  associations"  had 
Ijeen  formed  in  various  parts  of  France.  Such  were  the  Federation 
dc  TEtoile.  near  Valence,  in  November,  1789;  the  federation  of 
15,000  national  guards,  in  Brittany,  in  January,  1790;  the  Federa- 
tions de  I'Est,  of  the  garrisons  and  the  national  guards,  with 
headquarters  at  Epinal,  organized  March  6,  1790;  the  Federation 
de  Lyons,  May  30,  1790;  the  Federation  Alsacienne,  under  the 
presidency  of  the  mayor  of  Strasburg,  June  13,  1790.  From  Dau- 
phine  the  movement  spread  throughout  the  valley  of  the  Rhone, 
and  thence  over  all  France. 

July  14  approached:  that  day  was  regarded  by  the  nation 
as  the  anniversary  of  its  deliverance,  and  preparations  were  made 
to  celebrate  it  with  a  solemnity  calculated  to  elevate  the  souls 
of  the  citizens  and  to  strengthen  the  common  bonds  of  union.  A 
confederation  of  the  whole  kingdom  was  appointed  to  take  place 
in  the  Champ  de  Mars;  and  there,  in  the  open  air,  the  deputies 
sent  by  the  eighty-three  departments,  the  national  representatives, 
the  Parisan  guard,  and  the  monarch,  were  to  take  oath  to  the  con- 
stitution. By  way  of  prelude  to  this  patriotic  fete,  the  popular 
members  of  the  nobility  proposed  the  abolition  of  titles ;  and  the 
assembly  witnessed  another  sitting  similar  to  that  of  August  4. 
Titles,  armorial  bearings,  liveries,  and  orders  of  knighthood  were 
abolished  on  June  20,  and  vanity,  as  power  had  previously  done, 
lost  its  privileges. 

This  sitting  established  equality  everywhere,  and  made  things 
agree  with  words,  by  destroying  all  the  pompous  paraphernalia 
of  other  times.  Formerly  titles  had  designated  functions ;  armorial 
bearings  had  distinguished  powerful  families;  liveries  had  been 
worn  by  whole  armies  of  vassals;  orders  of  knighthood  had  de- 
fended the  state  against  foreign  foes,  Europe  against  Islamism ;  but 
now  nothing  of  this  remained.  Titles  had  lost  their  truth  and 
tlieir  fitness;  nobility,  after  ceasing  to  be  a  magistracy,  had  even 
ceased  U)  be  an  ornament;  and  power,  like  glory,  was  hencefortli 
to  spring  lr(jni  plebeian  ranks.  But  whether  the  aristocracy  set 
more  vahie  <jn  their  titles  than  on  their  privileges,  or  whether  they 
only  awaited  a  i)retext  for  openly  declaring  themselves,  this  last 
measure,  more  than  any  other,  decided  the  emigration  and  its 
attacks.     It    was    for    the    nobility,    what    the    civil    constitution 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  121 

1789-1791 

had  been  for  the  clergy,  an  occasion,  rather  than  a  cause,  of  hos- 
tihty. 

July  14  arrived,  and  the  revolution  witnessed  few  such  glori- 
ous days — the  weather  only  did  not  correspond  with  this  magnifi- 
cent fete.  The  deputies  of  all  the  departments  were  presented  to 
the  king,  who  received  them  with  much  affability ;  and  he,  on 
his  part,  met  also  with  the  most  touching  testimonies  of  love, 
but  as  a  constitutional  king.  "  Sire,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Breton 
deputation,  kneeling  on  one  knee  and  presenting  his  sword,  "  I 
place  in  your  hands  the  faithful  sword  of  the  brave  Bretons:  it 
shall  only  be  reddened  by  the  blood  of  your  foes."  Louis  XVI. 
raised  and  embraced  him  and  returned  the  sword.  "  It  cannot  be 
in  better  hands  than  in  those  of  my  brave  Bretons,"  he  replied; 
"  I  have  never  doubted  their  loyalty  and  affection ;  assure  them 
that  I  am  the  father  and  brother,  the  friend  of  all  Frenchmen." 
"  Sire,"  returned  the  deputy,  "  every  Frenchman  loves  and  will 
continue  to  love  you,  because  you  are  a  citizen-king." 

The  confederation  was  to  take  place  in  the  Champ  de  Mars. 
The  immense  preparations  were  scarcely  completed  in  time;  all 
Paris  had  been  engaged  for  several  weeks  to  get  the  arrangements 
ready  by  the  14th.  At  seven  in  the  morning  the  procession  of  elec- 
tors, of  the  representatives  of  the  corporation,  of  the  presidents 
of  districts,  of  the  national  assembly,  of  the  Parisian  guard,  of  the 
deputies  of  the  army,  and  of  the  federates  of  the  departments,  set 
out  in  complete  order  from  the  site  of  the  Bastile.  The  presence 
of  all  these  national  corps,  the  floating  banners,  the  patriotic  inscrip- 
tions, the  varied  costumes,  the  sounds  of  music,  the  joy  of  the 
crowd,  rendered  the  procession  a  most  imposing  one.  It  traversed 
the  city  and  crossed  the  Seine  amidst  a  volley  of  artillery,  over 
a  bridge  of  boats  which  had  been  thrown  across  it  the  preceding 
day.  It  entered  the  Champ  de  Mars  under  a  triumphal  arch 
adorned  with  patriotic  inscriptions.  Each  body  took  the  station 
assigned  it  in  excellent  order  and  amid  shouts  of  applause. 

The  vast  space  of  the  Champ  de  Alars  was  inclosed  by  raised 
seats  of  turf,  occupied  by  four  hundred  thousand  spectators.  An 
antique  altar  was  erected  in  the  middle;  and  around  it,  on  a  vast 
amphitheater,  were  the  king,  his  family,  the  assembly,  and  the  cor- 
poration. The  federates  of  the  departments  were  ranged  in  order 
under  their  banners ;  the  deputies  of  the  army  and  the  national 
guards  were  in  their  ranks    and  under  their  ensigns.     The  Bishop 


122  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

Talleyrand,  of  Aiittin,  ascended  the  altar  in  pontifical  robes;  four 
hundred  priests  in  white  robes  and  decorated  with  flowing  tri-colored 
sashes  were  posted  at  the  four  corners  of  the  altar.  Mass  was  cele- 
brated amid  the  sounds  of  military  music ;  and  then  the  Bishop  of 
Autun  blessed  the  oriflamme,  or  military  standard  of  the  French 
kings,  and  the  eighty-three  banners  of  the  departments. 

A  profound  silence  now  reigned  in  the  vast  inclosure,  and 
Lafayette,  appointed  that  day  to  the  command  in  chief  of  all  the 
national  guards  of  the  kingdom,  advanced  first  to  take  the  civic 
oath.  Borne  on  the  arms  of  grenadiers  to  the  altar  of  the  country, 
amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people,  he  exclaimed  with  a  loud 
voice,  in  his  own  name  and  that  of  the  federates  and  troops:  "  We 
swear  eternal  fidelity  to  the  nation,  the  law,  and  the  king;  to 
maintain  to  the  utmost  of  our  powder  the  constitution  decreed  by 
the  national  assembly  and  accepted  by  the  king;  and  to  remain 
united  with  every  Frenchman  by  the  indissoluble  ties  of  fraternity." 
Forthwith  the  firing  of  cannon,  prolonged  cries  of  "  Vive  la  na- 
tion!" "  Vive  le  roi!"  and  sounds  of  music  mingled  in  the  air. 
The  president  of  the  national  assembly  took  the  same  oath,  and  all 
the  deputies  repeated  it  with  one  voice.  Then  Louis  XVL  rose 
and  said :  ''  I,  king  of  the  French,  swear  to  employ  all  the  power 
delegated  to  me  by  the  constitutional  act  of  the  state,  in  maintain- 
ing the  constitution  decreed  by  the  national  assembly  and  accepted 
by  me."  The  queen,  carried  away  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moment, 
rose,  lifted  up  the  dauphin  in  her  arms,  and,  showing  him  to  the 
people,  exclaimed :  "  Behold  my  son,  he  unites  with  me  in  the  same 
sentiments."  At  that  moment  the  banners  were  lowered,  the  ac- 
clamations of  the  people  were  heard,  and  the  subjects  believed  in 
the  sincerity  of  the  monarch,  the  monarch  in  the  affection  of  the 
subjects,  and  this  happy  day  closed  with  a  hymn  of  thanksgiving. 

The  fetes  of  tlie  confederation  were  protracted  for  some  days. 
Illuminations,  l)alls,  and  sports  were  given  by  the  city  of  Paris  to 
the  deputies  of  the  departments.  A  ball  took  place  on  the  spot 
where  stood,  a  year  befijre,  the  Bastile ;  gratings,  fetters,  ruins 
were  observed  here  and  there,  and  on  the  door  was  the  inscription, 
"  Ici  (VI  ilaiise"  a  striking  contrast  wnth  the  ancient  destination  of 
the  spot.  A  contemporary  observes :  "  They  danced  indeed  with 
joy  and  security  on  the  ground  where  so  many  tears  had  been  shed; 
where  courage,  genius,  and  innocence  had  so  often  groaned;  where 
so  often  tlic  cries  of  despair  had  been  uttered  in  death."     A  medal 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  123 

1789-1791 

was  struck  to  commemorate  the  confederation ;  and  at  the  termina- 
tion of  the  fetes  the  deputies  returned  to  their  departments. 

The  confederation  only  suspended  the  hostihties  of  parties. 
Petty  intrigues  were  resumed  in  the  assembly  as  well  as  out  of 
doors.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  had  returned  from  his  mission,  or, 
more  strictly  speaking,  from  his  exile.  The  inquiry  respecting  the 
events  of  October  5  and  6,  of  which  he  and  Mirabeau  were  accused 
as  the  authors,  had  been  conducted  by  the  Chatelet.  This  inquiry, 
which  had  been  suspended,  was  now  resumed.  By  this  attack  the 
court  again  displayed  its  want  of  foresight;  for  it  ought  to  have 
proved  the  accusation  or  not  to  have  made  it.  The  assembly  having 
decided  on  giving  up  the  guilty  parties,  had  it  found  any  such, 
declared  there  was  no  ground  for  proceeding;  and  Mirabeau,  after 
an  overwhelming  outburst  against  the  whole  affair,  obliged  the 
Right  to  be  silent,  and  thus  arose  triumphantly  from  an  accusation 
which  had  been  made  expressly  to  intimidate  him.'' 

They  attacked  not  only  a  few  deputies,  but  the  assembly  itself. 
The  court  intrigued  against  it,  but  the  Right  drove  this  to  exaggera- 
tion. "  We  like  its  decrees,"  said  the  Abbe  Maury ;  "  we  want 
three  or  four  more  of  them."  Hired  libelists  sold,  at  its  very  doors, 
papers  calculated  to  deprive  it  of  the  respect  of  the  people ;  the  min- 
isters blamed  and  obstructed  its  progress.  Xecker,  still  haunted  by 
the  recollection  of  his  former  ascendency,  addressed  to  it  memorials 
in  which  he  opposed  its  decrees  and  gave  it  advice.  This  minister 
could  not  accustom  himself  to  a  secondary  part ;  he  would  not  fall 
in  with  the  abrupt  plans  of  the  assembly,  so  entirely  opposed  to  his 
ideas  of  gradual  reform.  At  length,  convinced  or  weary  of  the 
inutility  of  his  efforts,  he  left  Paris,  after  resigning,  on  September 
4,  1790,  and  obscurely  traversed  those  provinces  which  a  year  before 
he  had  gone  through  in  triumph.  In  revolutions  men  are  easily 
forgotten,  for  the  nation  sees  many  in  its  varied  course.  If  we 
would  not  find  them  ungrateful,  we  must  not  cease  for  an  instant 
to  serve  according  to  their  own  desire. 

Necker's  retirement  forced  forward  a  grave  political  question, 
namely,  how  far  did  the  king  have  a  right  to  select  his  ministers? 
Already,  in  the  debates  upon  the  formation  of  the  constitution,  ]\Iir- 
abeau  had  argued  that  the  ministers  should  have  seats  in  the  assem- 

^  Lomcnie,  "  Lcs  Mirabeau"  vol.  TV.  ch.  xxvii.,  takes  an  adverse  view  of 
Alirabeau's  political  honesty.  Von  Hoist,  "The  French  Revolution  Tested  by 
Mirabeau's  Career,"  holds  a  brief  in  his  defense.  Cf.  the  note  in  Fletcher's 
edition  of  Carlyle :     "  French  Revolution,"  vol.  I.  p.  344. 


124,  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

biy.  after  the  manner  of  the  Enghsh  form  of  government.  The 
Kif^lit  and  Left  were,  hnm  opposite  reasons,  opposed  to  Mira- 
beau's  motion,  but  i>art  of  them  were  with  him,  and  the  Center 
seemed  at  first  secure.  When  a  motion  to  exclude  the  ministers 
fn)m  the  assembly  was  made  Mirabeau  had  replied  in  a  scathing 
spcecii.  But  he  did  not  change  the  votes.  The  motion  was  carried. 
This  meant  the  adoption  of  the  principle  that  the  executive  and 
administrative  departments  of  the  nation  w^ere  antagonistic.  Now, 
again,  Mirabeau  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  inject  strength  into 
the  constitution. 

On  tlie  other  hand,  tlie  nobility,  which  had  found  a  new-  subject 
of  discontent  in  the  abolition  of  titles,  continued  its  anti-revolu- 
tionary efforts.  As  it  did  not  succeed  in  exciting  the  people,  who 
from  their  position  found  the  recent  changes  very  beneficial,  it  had 
recourse  to  means  which  it  considered  more  certain ;  it  quitted  the 
kingdom,  witli  the  intention  of  returning  thither  with  all  Europe 
as  its  armed  ally :  but  while  waiting  till  a  system  of  emigration  could 
be  organized,  while  waiting  for  the  appearance  of  foreign  foes  to 
the  revr)hition,  it  continued  to  arouse  enemies  to  it  in  the  interior  of 
tlie  kingdom.  The  troops,  as  we  have  before  observed,  had  already 
for  some  time  been  tampered  with  in  various  ways.  The  new  mil- 
itary code  was  favorable  to  the  soldiers ;  promotion  formerly  granted 
to  the  nobility  was  .now  granted  to  seniority.  Most  of  the  officers 
were  attached  to  the  ancient  regime,  nor  did  they  conceal  the  fact. 
Compelled  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  nation,  the  law,  and 
the  king,  which  was  become  the  common  oath,  some  left  the  army 
and  increased  the  number  of  emigrants,  while  others  endeavored  to 
win  the  soldiers  over  to  their  party. 

General  Bouille  was  of  this  number.  After  having  long  refused 
to  take  the  civic  oath,  he  did  so  at  last  with  this  intention.  He  had 
a  numerous  body  of  troops  under  his  command  near  the  northern 
frrinticr;  lie  w^as  clever,  resolute,  attached  to  the  king,  opposed  to 
the  revolution,  such  as  it  was  now  become,  though  the  friend  of 
rei.irin,  a  circumstance  that  afterward  brought  him  into  suspicion 
at  Coblentz.  lie  kc])t  his  army  isloated  from  the  citizens,  that  it 
miglit  remain  faithful  and  that  it  might  not  be  infected  with  the 
spirit  of  insu1)or(li:iatir)n  wliich  they  communicated  to  the  troops. 
By  skillful  management  and  the  ascendency  of  a  great  mind  he  also 
succcederl  in  retaining  the  confidence  and  attachment  of  his  soldiers. 
Jt  wa-  U'lt  thus  el>e\vhere.    The  officers  were  the  objects  of  a  general 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  125 

1789-1791 

dislike;  they  were  accused  of  diminishing  the  pay  and  having  no 
concern  for  the  great  body  of  the  troops.  The  prevailing  opinions 
had  also  something  to  do  with  this  dissatisfaction.  These  combined 
causes  led  to  revolts  among  the  men;  that  of  Nancy,  on  August  31, 
1790,  produced  great  alarm  and  became  almost  the  signal  of  a  civil 
war.  Three  regiments,  those  of  Chateauvieux,  Maitre-de-camp, 
and  the  Regiment-du  roi,  rebelled  against  their  chiefs.^"  Bouille  was 
ordered  to  march  against  them ;  he  did  so  at  the  head  of  the  garrison 
and  national  guard  of  Metz.  After  an  animated  skirmish  he  sub- 
dued them.  The  assembly  congratulated  him ;  but  Paris,  which  saw 
in  Bouille  a  conspirator,  was  thrown  into  fresh  agitation  at  this 
intelligence.  Crowds  collected,  and  the  impeachment  of  the  minis- 
ters who  had  given  orders  to  Bouille  to  march  upon  Nancy  was 
clamorously  demanded."  Lafayette,  however,  succeeded  in  allaying 
this  ebullition,  supported  by  the  assembly,  which,  finding  itself 
placed  between  a  counter-revolution  and  anarchy,  opposed  both  with 
equal  wisdom  and  courage. 

The  aristocracy  triumphed  at  the  sight  of  the  difficulties  which 
perplexed  the  assembly.  They  imagined  that  it  would  be  compelled 
to  be  dependent  on  the  multitude  or  deprive  itself  entirely  of  its 
support ;  and  in  either  case  the  return  to  the  ancient  regime  appeared 
to  them  short  and  easy.  The  clergy  had  its  share  in  this  work.  The 
sale  of  church  property,  which  it  took  every  means  to  impede,  was 
effected  at  a  higher  price  than  that  fixed.  The  people,  delivered 
from  the  tithes  and  reassured  as  to  the  national  debt,  were  far  from 
listening  to  the  angry  suggestions  of  the  priests;  they  accordingly 
made  use  of  the  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy  to  excite  a  schism. 

1''  There  was  only  one  full  regiment,  that  of  Maitre-de-camp.  Besides  this, 
there  were  four  battalions  of  the  Regiment-du-roi  and  two  battalions  of  the 
Swiss.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  regiment  to  which  Napoleon  was 
attached  had  mutinied  in  August,  1789. — Chuquet,  "La  jeuncssc  de  Napoleon'' 
vol.  I.  p.  118.  That  there  was  wisdom  in  Bouille's  precaution  is  proved  b}'  the 
action  of  the  national  assembly,  which  on  August  6,  1790,  forbade  the  organization 
of  political  clubs  among  the  soldiers. 

^1  Aulard  has  shown  that  radical  members  of  the  national  assembly  actually 
wrote  to  tlie  soldiers  at  Nancy,  inciting  them  to  revolt!  Bouille  intercepted 
some  of  the  letters.  Bouille  died  in  England  in  1800 — one  of  the  best  soldiers 
and  truest  patriots  France  had  in  these  difficult  times. 

The  Swiss  regiment,  who  had  been  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection  of 
Nancy,  were  praised  as  the  martyrs  of  liberty  and  the  avengers  of  the  law. 
Bouille.  who  had  put  down  the  revolt,  was  denounced  as  alone  responsible 
for  the  shedding  of  blood.  So,  under  the  pressure  of  the  Jacobin  Club  and  the 
galleries,  the   Swiss  were   amnestied  by  the  assembly. 


1«6  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

I^O  X   li.  x-i       J^  1789-1791 

We  liave  seen  that  this  decree  of  the  assembly  did  not  affect  either 
the  (hsciphne  or  the  creed  of  the  churcli.  The  king  sanctioned  it  on 
December  21  ;  but  the  bishops  declared  that  it  encroached  on  the 
spiritual  authority.  The  Pope,  consulted  as  to  this  purely  political 
measure,  refused' his  assent  to  it,  which  the  king  earnestly  sought, 
and  encouraged  the  opposition  of  the  priests.  The  latter  decided 
that  they  would  not  concur  in  the  establishment  of  the  civil  consti- 
tution; that  those  of  them  who  might  be  suppressed  would  protest 
against  this  uncanonical  act,  that  every  bishopric  created  without 
the  concurrence  of  the  Pope  should  be  null,  and  that  the  metropoli- 
tans should  refuse  institution  to  bishops  appointed  according  to  civil 
fonns. 

The  assembly  strengthened  this  league  by  attempting  to  frus- 
trate it.  If,  contrary  to  their  real  desire,  it  had  left  the  dissentient 
priests  to  themselves,  they  would  not  have  formed  the  elements  of  a 
religious  war.  But  the  assembly  decreed  that  the  ecclesiastics  should 
swear  fidelity  to  the  nation,  the  law,  and  the  king,  and  to  maintain 
the  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy.  Refusal  to  take  this  oath  was  to 
be  attended  by  the  substitution  of  others  in  their  bishoprics  and 
cures.  The  assembly  hoped  that  the  higher  clergy  from  in- 
terest and  the  lower  clergy  from  ambition  would  adopt  this 
measure. 

The  bishops,  on  the  contrary,  thought  that  all  the  ecclesiastics 
would  follow  their  example,  and  that  by  refusing  to  swear  they 
would  leave  the  state  without  public  worship  and  the  people  with- 
out priests.  The  result  satisfied  the  expectations  of  neither  party ; 
the  majority  of  the  bishops  and  cures  of  the  assembly  refused  to 
take  the  oath,  but  a  few  bishops  and  many  cures  took  it.  The  dis- 
sentient incumbents  were  deprived  and  the  electors  nominated  suc- 
cessors to  them,  who  received  canonical  institution  from  the  Bishops 
of  Autun  and  Lida.  But  the  deprived  ecclesiastics  refused  to  aban- 
dun  their  functions,  and  declared  their  successors  intruders,  the 
sacraments  administered  by  them  null ;  and  all  Christians  who  should 
\enture  to  recognize  them  excommunicated.  They  did  not  leave 
tlieir  dioceses;  they  issued  charges  and  excited  the  people  to  disobey 
the  laws;  and  llnis  an  affair  of  ])rivate  interest  become  first  a  matter 
of  religion  and  then  a  matter  of  party.  There  were  two  bodies  of 
clergy,  one  "  CDU^titntional,"  the  other  "refractory";  each  had 
it<  partisrms  and  they  treated  each  other  as  rebels  and  heretics.  Ac- 
C'lvding  to  pas-^ion  (ir  interest,  religion  became  an  instrument  or  an 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  127 

1789-1791 

obstacle;  and  while  the  priests  made  fanatics  the  revolution  made 
infidels.  The  people,  not  yet  affected  with  this  malady  of  the  upper 
classes,  lost,  especially  in  towns,  the  faith  of  their  fathers  from  the 
imprudence  of  these  who  placed  them  between  the  revolution  and 
their  religion.  "  The  bishops,"  said  the  Marquis  de  Ferrieres,  who 
will  not  be  suspected,  "  refused  to  fall  in  with  my  arrangements, 
and  by  their  guilty  intrigues  closed  every  approach  to  reconciliation, 
sacrificing  the  Catholic  religion  to  an  insane  obstinacy  and  a  dis- 
creditable attachment  to  their  wealth." 

Every  party  sought  to  gain  the  people ;  it  was  courted  as  sov- 
ereign. After  attempting  to  influence  it  by  religion,  other  means 
was  employed,  that  of  the  clubs.  At  that  period  clubs  were  private 
assemblies  in  which  the  measures  of  government,  the  business  of 
the  state,  and  the  decrees  of  the  assembly  were  discussed ;  their 
deliberations  had  no  authority,  but  they  exercised  a  certain  influ- 
ence. The  first  club  owed  its  origin  to  the  Breton  deputies,  w^ho 
already  met  together  at  Versailles  to  consider  the  course  of  proceed- 
ing they  should  take.  When  the  national  representatives  were 
transferred  from  Versailles  to  Paris  the  Breton  deputies  and  those 
of  the  assembly  who  were  of  their  views  held  their  sittings  in  the 
old  convent  of  the  Jacobins,  which  subsequently  gave  its  name  to 
their  meetings.  It  did  not  at  first  cease  to  be  a  preparatory  assem- 
bly, but  as  all  things  increase  in  time,  the  Jacobin  Club  did  not  con- 
fine itself  to  influencing  the  assembly;  it  sought  also  to  influence 
the  municipality  and  the  people,  and  received  as  associates  members 
of  the  municipality  and  common  citizens.  Its  organization  became 
more  regular,  its  action  more  powerful ;  its  sittings  were  regularly 
reported  in  the  papers ;  it  created  branch  clubs  in  the  provinces  and 
raised  by  the  side  of  legal  power  another  power  which  first  counseled 
and  then  conducted  it. 

The  growth  of  the  Jacobin  Club  was  phenomenal.  There  was 
one  in  ]\Iarseilles  before  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  the  revolution ; 
in  June,  1790,  there  were  sixty;  by  autumn  they  numbered  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty;  in  two  months,  in  1791,  six  hundred  new  clubs  were 
organized  ;  by  June,  179.2,  there  were  over  a  thousand  Jacobin  Clubs. 
While  their  membership  was  large,  it  was  the  fine  organization 
which  was  the  secret  of  success. 

The  official  style  of  the  Jacobin  Club  was  ''  Societe  des  Amis 
de  la  Constitution."  On  September  21,  1792,  this  was  changed  to 
"  Socictc  des  Jacobins  amis  de  la  liberie  et  de  V coalite."     The  meet- 


128  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1789-1791 

ings  of  the  club  were  closed  until  October  12,  1791,  when  they  were 
thrown  open  to  the  public.'" 

Secession  from  the  Jacobin  Club  did  not  take  place  until  after 
the  attempted  flight  of  the  king  to  Varennes,  June  20,  1791.  After 
that  event  the  Club  of  '89,  popularly  called  the  Feuillant  Club,  from 
the  Maison  des  Feuillants  in  the  Rue  St.  Honore,  was  organized. 
Sieves,  Chapclier,  Lafayette,  La  Rochefoucauld  directed  it,  as 
Lameth  and  Barnave  directed  that  of  the  Jacobins.  Mirabeau  be- 
longed to  both,  and  by  both  was  equally  courted.  These  clubs,  of 
which  the  one  prevailed  in  the  assembly  and  the  other  among  the 
people,  were  attached  to  the  new  order  of  things,  though  in  different 
degrees.  Both  clubs  were  monarchical  in  political  tendency,  but 
the  Jacobins  inclined  toward  radical  democracy,  and  ultimately  be- 
came republican.  Throughout  the  history  of  the  revolution  the 
Jacobin  Club  reflects  the  dominant  politics  of  the  time.  The  '"  Club 
dcs  Cordeliers,  soeiete  des  droits  de  I'homme  et  dn  citoyen,"  named 
from  its  meeting  place  in  the  convent  of  the  Cordeliers,  was  even 
more  inclined  to  republicanism.  It  was  not  an  offshoot  of  the 
Jacobin  Club,  but  an  organization  of  the  electors  in  the  district  of 
the  Cordeliers.  Its  first  political  move  was  to  demand  the  deposi- 
tion of  the  king  and  the  establishment  of  a  republic,  on  June  20, 
1 791.  When  the  Jacobins  became  republican,  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  clubs  was  more  one  of  method  than  of  political  belief. 
Tlic  Cordeliers  never  had  the  complete  organization  enjoyed  by  the 
Jacobin  Club.  It  was  extinguished  with  the  Terror  in  1794.  Dan- 
ton  was  its  political  chief,  Camille  Desmoulins  its  intellectual  leader. 
His  paper,  the  Vieux  Cordelier,  was  the  organ  of  the  society.  It 
first  appeared  in  December,  1793. 

The  aristocracy  sought  to  attack  the  revolution  with  its  own 
arms;  it  opened  royalist  clubs  to  oppose  the  popular  clubs.  The 
"  Club  des  Iinpartiaux"  was  founded  in  January,  1790,  but  did  not 
last  long.  It  appeared  under  another  form  a  year  later  as  the 
"Soeiete  des  Amis  de  la  Constitution  Monarchique" — the  "Club 
Mniiareliique."  It  sought  to  render  itself  popular  with  the  lower 
classes,  and  distributed  bread;  but  far  from  accepting  its  overtures, 
the  pcni)le  considered  such  establishments  as  a  counter-revolutionary 
movement.     It   disturbed   the   sittings,    and   obliged   the   members 

'- Srt'^Taine,  "  I'rench  Rcvnlutinn " ;  Aularrl,  "La  Socieic  dcs  Jacobins," 
2  vr.Is.,  i,S,S<;,  At  p.  S[  (,f  t!-.c  first  volume  is  to  he  found  tlie  constitution  of  the 
soriet>  and  tlu:  li.-t  of  aftiliated  cluhs.  See  also  Challemel.  "  Lcs  Clubs  contrc- 
ri-c.jlutwnaircs"  I'&j^- 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  129 

1789-1791 

several  times  to  change  their  place  of  meeting.  The  Jacobin  Club 
formally  denounced  it  on  Christmas  Day,  1790,  and  it  was  closed 
by  the  city  authorities  on  March  28,  1791,  as  a  police  measure,  in 
order  to  prevent  rioting. 

The  distrust  of  the  multitude  was  extreme;  the  departure  of 
the  king's  aunts,  to  which  it  attached  an  exaggerated  importance, 
increased  its  uneasiness  and  led  it  to  suppose  another  departure  was 
preparing.  These  suspicions  were  not  unfounded,  and  they  occa- 
sioned a  kind  of  rising  which  the  anti-revolutionists  sought  to  turn 
to  account  by  carrying  off  the  king.  This  project  failed,  owing  to 
the  resolution  and  skill  of  Lafayette.  While  the  crowd  went  to 
Vincennes  to  demolish  the  dungeon  which  they  said  communicated 
with  the  Tuileries,  and  would  favor  the  flight  of  the  king,  more  than 
six  hundred  persons  armed  with  swords  and  daggers  entered  the 
Tuileries  to  compel  the  king  to  flee.  Lafayette,  who  had  repaired 
to  Vincennes  to  disperse  the  multitude,  returned  to  quell  the  anti- 
revolutionists  of  the  chateau,  after  dissipating  the  mob  of  the  popu- 
lar party,  and  by  this  second  expedition  he  regained  the  confidence 
which  his  first  had  lost  him.^^ 

The  attempt  rendered  the  escape  of  Louis  XVL  more  feared 
than  ever.  Accordingly,  a  short  time  after,  when  he  wished  to  go 
to  Saint  Cloud,  he  was  prevented  by  the  crowd  and  even  by  his  own 
guard,  despite  the  efforts  of  Lafayette,  who  endeavored  to  make 
them  respect  the  law  and  the  liberty  of  the  monarch.  The  assembly 
on  its  side,  after  having  decreed  the  inviolability  of  the  prince,  after 
having  regulated  his  constitutional  guard  and  assigned  the  regency 
to  the  nearest  male  heir  to  the  crown,  declared  that  his  flight  from 
the  kingdom  would  lead  to  his  dethronement.  The  increasing  emi- 
gration, the  open  avowal  of  its  objects  and  the  threatening  attitude 
of  the  European  cabinets,  all  cherished  the  fear  that  the  king  might 
adopt  such  a  determination. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  the  assembly  sought  to  stop  the  prog- 
ress of  emigration  by  a  decree,  but  this  decree  was  a  difficult  ques- 
tion.    If  they  punished  those  who  left  the  kingdom  they  violated 

^3  The  attack  of  the  mob  upon  the  chateau  of  Vincennes  was  inspired  by 
the  same  feeling  as  that  which  had  actuated  the  men  who  beset  the  Bastile. 
Each  structure  was  regarded  as  tlie  symbol  of  absolutism.  The  immediate 
occasion  was  due  to  an  endeavor  of  the  municipality  of  Paris  to  put  the  castle 
in  a  state  of  repair  in  order  to  use  it  as  a  prison.  The  populace  misunderstood 
the  purpose  of  the  act.  Some  time  before  this  Lafayette  had  urged  Louis 
XVI.  to  make  himself  popular  by  demolishing  the  castle. — "  Mcmoires,"  vol.  II. 
p.  465. 


130  THE     F  II  EN  ('II     REVOLUTION 

xav/  X   ai  1789-1791 

the  maxims  of  liberty,  rendered  sacred  by  tbe  declaration  of  rights; 
if  they  did  not  raise  obstacles  to  emigration  they  endangered  the 
safety  of  France,  as  the  nobles  merely  quitted  it  in  order  to  in- 
vade it.  In  the  assembly,  setting  aside  those  who  favored  em- 
igration, some  looked  only  at  the  right,  others  only  at  the  danger, 
and  everyone  sided  with  or  opposed  the  restrictive  law,  accord- 
itig  to  his  mode  of  viewing  the  subject.  Those  who  desired  the 
law  wished  it  to  be  mild;  but  only  one  law  could  be  practica- 
ble at  such  a  moment,  and  the  assembly  shrank  from  enacting  it. 
This  law,  by  the  arbitrary  order  of  a  committee  of  three  members, 
was  to  pronounce  a  sentence  of  civil  death  on  the  fugitive  and 
the  confiscation  of  his  property.  "  The  horror  expressed  on 
the.  reading  of  this  project,"  cried  Mirabeau,  "proves  that 
this  is  a  law  worthy  of  being  placed  in  the  code  of  Draco,  and 
cannot  find  place  among  the  decrees  of  the  national  assembly  of 
France.  I  proclaim  that  I  shall  consider  myself  released  from  every 
oath  of  fidelity  I  have  made  toward  those  who  may  be  infamous 
enough  to  nominate  a  dictatorial  commission.  The  popularity  I 
covet,  and  which  I  have- the  honor  to  enjoy,  is  not  a  feeble  reed; 
I  wish  it  to  take  root  in  the  soil,  based  on  justice  and  liberty."  The 
exterior  position  was  not  yet  sufficiently  alarming  for  the  adoption 
of  such  a  measure  of  safety  and  revolutionary  defense.^* 

Mirabeau  did  not  long  enjoy  the  popularity  which  he  imagined 
he  was  so  sure  of.  That  was  the  last  sitting  he  attended.  A  few 
days  afterward  lie  terminated  a  life  worn  out  by  passions  and  toil. 
His  death,  which  happened  on  April  2,  1791,  was  considered  a  pub- 
lic calamity;  all  Paris  attended  his  funeral;  there  was  a  general 
mourning  tliroughout  ^>ance,  and  his  remains  were  deposited  in 
the  Pantheon,  which  had  just  been  "  consecrated  to  the  great  men 
of  France  by  a  grateful  country."  No  one  succeeded  him  in  power 
and  popularity;  and  for  a  long  time,  in  dif-ficult  discussions,  the 
eyes  of  tlie  assembly  would  turn  toward  the  scat  from  which 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  hear  the  commanding  eloquence  that 
terminated  their  debates.  Mirabeau,  after  having  assisted  the  revo- 
luti'iu  with  his  daring  in  seasons  of  trial,  and  with  his  powerful 

^■'  !  he  prnpoMtion  fdrcibly  to  prevent  emigration  was  first  made  on  Feb- 
r'-ary  21,  17^1.  I  he  motion  to  create  a  committee  of  three  was  made  a  week 
lattr.  and  failed  to  carry,  chicly  owin;,'  to  iMiraheau's  attack.  The  question 
d:d  r.Mt  ronie  up  a-un  until  u.idMimm-r.  It  is  interc-^tin.q-  to  observe  that  the 
forniid.-d.l.'  diMTrti<.n;.ry  power-,  here  advocated  for  the  committee  foreshadow 
the  creation  '■!   il.c  conuuuice  <  f  public  safety. 


SEPARATION     OF     PARTIES  131 

1789-1791 

reasoning  since  its  victory,  died  seasonably.  He  was  revolving  vast 
designs;  he  wished  to  strengthen  the  throne  and  consolidate  the 
revolution :  two  attempts  extremely  difficult  at  such  a  time.  It  is 
to  be  feared  that  royalty,  if  he  had  made  it  independent,  would  have 
put  down  the  revolution;  or,  if  he  had  failed,  that  the  revolution 
would  have  put  down  royalty."  It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  con- 
vert an  ancient  power  into  a  new  order;  perhaps  a  revolution  must 
be  prolonged  in  order  to  become  legitimate,  and  the  throne,  as  it 
recovers,  acquire  the  novelty  of  the  other  institutions. 

From  October  5  and  6,  1789,  to  the  month  of  April,  1791,  the 
national  assembly  completed  the  reorganization  of  France;  the  court 
gave  itself  up  to  petty  intrigues  and  projects  of  flight ;  the  privileged 
classes  sought  for  new  means  of  power,  those  which  they  formerly 
possessed  having  been  successively  taken  from  them.  They  took 
advantage  of  all  the  opportunities  of  disorder  which  circumstances 
furnished  them  with  to  attack  the  new  regime  and  restore  the  old  by 
means  of  anarchy.  At  the  opening  of  the  parlements  the  nobility 
caused  the  chambres  de  vacations  to  protest;  when  the  provinces 
were  abolished  it  made  the  orders  protest.  As  soon  as  the  depart- 
ments were  formed  it  tried  new  elections ;  when  the  old  writs  had  ex- 
pired it  sought  the  dissolution  of  the  assembly;  when  the  new  mili- 
tary code  passed  it  endeavored  to  excite  the  defection  of  the  officers ; 
lastly,  all  these  means  of  opposition  failing  to  effect  the  success  of 
its  designs,  it  emigrated  to  excite  Europe  against  the  revolution. 
The  clergy,  on  its  side,  discontented  with  the  loss  of  its  possessions 
still  more  than  with  the  ecclesiastical  constitution,  sought  to  destroy 
the  new  order  by  insurrections  and  to  bring  on  insurrections  by  a 
schism.  Thus  it  was  during  this  epoch  that  parties  became  gradu- 
ally disunited  and  that  the  two  classes  hostile  to  the  revolution  pre- 
pared the  elements  of  civil  and  foreign  war. 

1^  The  opinion  of  critical  historians  to-day  is  that  IMirabeau  was  the 
greatest  statesman  of  the  revoUitionary  period  and  that,  if  he  had  lived,  the 
fall  of  the  monarchy  might  have  been  averted.  Cf.  Von  Sybel,  "  History  of 
the  French  Revolution."  vol.  I.  p.  300  ff. ;  Von  TTolst,  "The  French  Revolution 
Tested  by  >.lirabeau's  Career,"  passim,  espec.  vol.   II.  pp.  241  ff. 


Chapter   VI 

THE   CLOSE   OF   THE   ASSEMBLY 
SEPTEMBER   30,    1791 

THE  French  Revolution  was  to  change  the  political  state  of 
Europe,  to  terminate  the  strife  of  kings  among  them- 
selves and  to  commence  that  between  kings  and  people. 
This  would  have  taken  place  much  later  had  not  the  kings  themselves 
provoked  it.  They  sought  to  suppress  the  revolution,  and  they  ex- 
tended it;  for  by  attacking  it  they  were  to  render  it  victorious. 
Europe  had  tlien  arrived  at  the  term  of  the  political  system  which 
swayed  it.  The  existence  of  the  several  states  after  being  internal 
under  the  feudal  government  had  become  external  under  the  mon- 
archical government.  The  first  period  terminated  almost  at  the 
same  time  among  all  the  great  nations  of  Europe.  Then  kings  who 
had  so  long  been  at  war  with  their  vassals,  because  they  were  in 
contact  with  them,  encountered  each  other  on  the  boundaries  of 
their  kingdoms  and  fought.  As  no  domination  could  become  uni- 
versal, neither  that  of  Charles  V.  (15 19-1556)  nor  that  of  Louis 
XIV.  (1642-1715),  the  weak  always  uniting  against  the  strong, 
after  several  vicissitudes  of  superiority  and  alliance,  a  sort  of  Euro- 
pean equilibrium  was  established.  To  appreciate  ulterior  events  it 
will  not  be  unuseful  to  consider  this  equilibrium  before  the  revolu- 
tion, 

Austria,  England,  and  France  had  been  from  the  Peace  of  West- 
phalia (1648)  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  three 
great  powers  of  Europe.  Interest  had  leagued  the  first  two  against 
the  third.  Austria  had  reason  to  dread  the  influence  of  France  in 
the  Netherlands ;  England  feared  it  on  the  sea.  Rivalry  of  power 
and  commerce  often  set  them  at  variance,  and  they  sought  to  weaken 
or  j)]un(lcr  each  other.  Spain,  since  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Bour- 
bon had  been  on  tlic  throne,  was  the  ally  of  hVance  against  England. 
This,  however,  was  a  fallen  power;  confined  to  a  corner  of  the  Con- 
tinent, oijprcssed  by  the  system  of  Philip  II.,  deprived  by  family 
com[)act  of  tlie  only  enemy  that  could  keep  it  in  action,  bv  sea  only 
had   It   retained   any  of  its  ancient   superiority.      But   France  had 

132 


CLOSE     OF     THE     ASSEMBLY  133 

1791 

other  allies  on  all  sides  of  Austria:  Sweden  on  the  north;  Poland 
and  the  Porte  on  the  east ;  in  the  south  of  Germany,  Bavaria ;  Prus- 
sia on  the  west;  and  in  Italy,  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  These  pow- 
ers, having  reason  to  dread  the  encroachment  of  Austria,  were 
naturally  the  allies  of  her  enemy.  Piedmont,  placed  between  the 
two  systems  of  alliance,  sided,  according  to  circumstances  and  its 
interests,  with  either.  Holland  was  united  w'ith  England  or  with 
France,  as  the  party  of  the  stadtholder  or  that  of  the  people  pre- 
vailed in  the  republic.     Switzerland  was  neutral. 

In  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  two  powers  had  risen 
in  the  north,  Russia  and  Prussia.  The  latter  had  been  changed 
from  a  simple  electorate  into  an  important  kingdom  by  Frederick 
William  (1713-1740),  who  had  given  it  a  treasure  and  an  army; 
and  by  his  son,  Frederick  the  Great  ( 1 740-1 786),  who  had  made  use 
of  these  to  extend  his  territory.  Russia,  long  unconnected  with  the 
other  states,  had  been  more  especially  introduced  into  the  politics  of 
Europe  by  Peter  L  (1689-1725)  and  Catherine  II.  (1762-1796). 
The  accession  of  these  two  powers  considerably  modified  the  ancient 
alliances.  In  concert  with  the  cabinet  of  Vienna,  Russia  and  Prus- 
sia had  executed  the  first  partition  of  Poland  in  1772 ;  and  after  the 
death  of  Frederick  the  Great  the  Empress  Catherine  and  the  Em- 
peror Joseph  united  in  1785  to  effect  that  of  European  Turkey. 

The  cabinet  of  Versailles,  weakened  since  the  imprudent  and 
unfortunate  Seven  Years'  War,  had  assisted  in  the  partition  of 
Poland  without  opposing  it,  had  raised  no  obstacle  to  the  fall  of 
the  Ottoman  empire,  and  even  allowed  its  ally,  the  republican  party 
in  Holland,  to  sink  under  the  blows  of  Prussia  and  England,  with- 
out assisting  it.  The  latter  powers  had  in  1787  reestablished  by 
force  the  hereditary  stadtholderate  of  the  United  Provinces.  The 
only  act  which  did  honor  to  French  policy  was  the  support  it  had 
happily  given  to  the  emancipation  of  North  America.  The  revolu- 
tion of  1789,  while  extending  the  moral  influence  of  France,  dimin- 
ished still  more  its  diplomatic  influence. 

England,  under  the  government  of  the  younger  Pitt,  was 
alarmed  in  1788  at  the  ambitious  projects  of  Russia,  and  united 
with  Holland  and  Prussia  to  put  an  end  to  them.  Hostilities  were 
on  the  point  of  commencing  when  the  Emperor  Joseph  died  in 
February,  1790,  and  was  succeeded  by  Leopold,  who  in  July  ac- 
cepted the  Convention  of  Reichenlxijch.  This  convention,  by  the 
mediation  of  England,   Russia,  and  .Holland,  settled  the  terms  of 


134  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1791 

the  peace  between  Austria  and  Turkey,  which  was  signed  definitely, 
on  August  4,  1 79 1,  at  Sistova.  The  convention  at  the  same  time 
provided  for  the  pacification  of  the  Netherlands.  Urged  by  Eng- 
land and  Prussia,  Catherine  II.  also  made  peace  with  the  Porte  at 
Jassy,  on  December  29.  1791.  These  negotiations,  and  the  treaties 
they  gave  rise  to.  terminated  the  political  struggles  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  left  the  powers  free  to  turn  their  attention  to  the 
French  Revolution.^ 

The  princes  of  Europe,  who  had  hitherto  had  no  enemies  but 
themselves,  viewed  it  in  the  light  of  a  common  foe.  The  revolu- 
tion, by  placing  France  in  an  exceptional  situation,  had  changed 
its  relations  with  the  other  states.  By  accomplishing  a  revolution 
within,  PVance  had  introduced  a  new  cause  of  conflict:  the  oppo- 
sition between  two  political  systems,  between  two  opposing  concep- 
tions of  government.  The  destruction  of  the  old  regime  was  an 
example  given  to  other  peoples,  an  act  of  indirect  political  propa- 
ganda. So  great  was  this  disquietude  on  the  part  of  the  European 
states  that  on  May  22,  1790,  the  national  assembly  denounced  any 
warlike  enterprise  "  with  a  view  of  making  conquests."  In  the 
very  next  month  this  pacific  declaration  was  seriously  compro- 
mised. The  people  of  Avignon,  a  county  on  the  Rhone,  were 
subjects  of  the  Pope,  but  in  June,  1790,  rebelled  and  asked  to  be 
annexed  to  France.  The  government  of  France  refused  so  to  do, 
but  in  the  interest  of  public  safety  in  Avignon  it  sent  French  troops 
to  establish  order.  Later  France  acknowledged  the  "  right  of  a 
sovereign  people  to  choose  its  own  ruler,"  and  annexed  the  terri- 
tory (September  14,  T791)  thereby  overthrowing  the  international 
laws  of  Europe;  it  rejected  tradition  and  the  doctrine  of  obedience 
to  an  arbitrary  sovereign.  The  ancient  relations  of  war  and  of 
alliance,  already  overlooked  during  the  Seven  Years'  War,  now 
ceased  entirely:  Sweden  united  with  Russia  and  Prussia  with 
Austria.  Hiere  was  nothing  now  but  tlie  kings  on  one  side  and  the 
per)])les  on  the  other,  waiting  for  the  auxiliaries  which  its  example, 
or  tlie  faults  of  tlie  princes,  might  give  it.  A  general  coalition  was 
soon  formed  against  tlie  French  Revolution.  Austria's  participa- 
tion was  in  order  to  prevent  the  spread  of  revolutionary  influences 
in  tlie  Austrian  Xetlierlands  (Belgium).    England  sought  to  avenge 

^  The  I)cst  arroinit  of  tlic  important  Iiistory  here  briefly  summarized  is  to  he 
found  in  tlic  first  volume  of  Sorcl ;  "  /.'Europe  el  la  Revolution  francaise."  or  the 
same  author's  '-Tlie  I'.astern  Question  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  which  has 
been  trau'-Iated  into  Kn^Hsh. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     ASSEMBLY  135 

1791 

the  American  war  and  to  preserve  herself  from  the  spirit  of  the 
revolution,  her  chief  fear  being  lest  the  Austrian  Netherlands 
should  rebel  against  Austria  and  side  with  France,  in  which  event 
— as  happened  in  1792 — the  Scheldt  River  and  the  port  of  Ant- 
werp, which  had  been  closed  since  1648,  would  be  opened,  to 
the  detriment  of  English  and  Dutch  commerce.  Prussia  wanted 
to  strengthen  the  threatened  absolute  power,  and  profitably  to  en- 
gage its  unemployed  army ;  moreover,  Prussia,  like  Austria,  feared 
revolutionary  propaganda  in  the  Prussian  Rhinelands.  The  Ger- 
man states  engaged  in  it  to  restore  feudal  rights  to  some  of  their 
members  who  had  been  deprived  of  them  by  the  abolition  of  the 
old  regime  in  Alsace ;  ^  the  King  of  Sweden,  who  had  constituted 
himself  the  champion  of  arbitrary  power,  to  reestablish  it  in 
France,  as  he  had  just  done  in  his  own  country;  Russia,  that  it 
might  execute  without  trouble  the  partition  of  Poland,  while  the 
attention  of  Europe  was  directed  elsewhere;  finally,  all  the  sov- 

-  A  great  number  of  German  princes  owned  large  estates  in  Alsace.  The 
Westphalian  Peace  of  1648  guaranteed  sovereign  rights  to  them  in  these  pos- 
sessions. But  these  rights  had  been  all  swept  away  on  the  night  of  August  4, 
1789.  Though  their  claims  were  incontestable,  yet  the  chance  of  enforcing  them 
was  very  small.  The  Alsatian  nobles  appealed  to  the  treaty  of  1648,  which 
gtiaranteed  their  rights  and  feudal  privileges,  and  refused  to  subm.it  to  the 
decrees  of  the  assembly.  The  matter  was  brought  before  the  national  assembly, 
which,  in  principle,  sustained  the  Alsatian  people  in  their  contention  for  free- 
dom :  "  The  Alsatian  people,"  said  the  report  presented  to  the  assembly,  "  has 
united  with  the  French  people  because  it  has  willed  so  to  do;  it  is  therefore  its 
will  alone  and  not  the  Treaty  of  Munster,  which  has  legalized  the  union."  In 
sustaining  this  principle  the  national  assembly  really  overthrew  the  old  inter- 
national law  and  established  a  new  authority,  the  will  of  the  sovereign  people. 
However,  in  order  to  sugar-coat  the  pill,  the  assembly  passed  a  decree  providing 
for  the  indemnification  of  those  Alsatian  nobles  who  had  suffered.  Legal  rights 
of  the  foreigners  were  opposed  by  reasons  of  state.  IMorris's  legal  quality  of 
mind  grasped  the  difficulty.     He  admirably  expresses  it: 

"This  controversy  reduces  itself  to  one  point  of  right  and  the  other  of 
fact.  By  various  treaties  the  princes  have  stipulated  that  the  fiefs  in  question 
shall  be  held  as  heretofore  by  the  German  empire.  The  point  of  right,  there- 
fore, is,  whether  this  tenure  does  not  exempt  them  from  the  general  decisions 
of  the  French  nation  respecting  that  species  of  property.  The  point  of  fact 
is  whether  the  chief  of  the  French  or  German  empire  be,  by  those  treaties — 
quoad  hoc — the  liege  lord.  This,  being  a  matter  of  interpretation,  must  be  de- 
cided by  the  pul)licists,  but  the  whole  question  being  between  sovereign  nations, 
it  is  probable  that  the  decision  will  depend  on  everything  except  the  real  merits." 
— "  Diary  and  Letters,"  vol.  L  p.  243. 

The  question  was  the  subject  of  protracted  negotiations  between  France  and 
the  empire.  France  offered  to  indemnify  the  dispossessed  German  nobles,  but 
the  diet  refused  to  accept  the  terms.  On  the  whole  subject  see  Von  Sybel, 
"  History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  vol.  L  pp.  231  ff. 


136  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1791 

erci£^ns  of  the  house  of  Bourbon,-''  from  the  interest  of  power 
and' family  attachments.  The  eniig-rants  encouraged  them  in  these 
projects  and  excited  them  to  invasion.  According  to  them,  France 
was  without  an  army,  or  at  least  without  leaders,  destitute  of 
money,  given  up  to  disorder,  weary  of  the  assembly,  disposed  to 
the  ancient  regime,  and  Avithout  either  the  means  or  the  inclination 
to  defend  itself.  They  flocked  in  crowds  to  take  a  share  in  the 
promised  short  campaign,  and  formed  into  organized  bodies  under 
the  Prince  de  Conde  at  Worms  and  the  Count  d'Artois  at 
Coblentz.'* 

The  Count  d'Artois  especially  hastened  the  determination  of 
the  cabinets.  The  Emperor  Leopold  was  in  Italy,  and  the  count 
repaired  to  him,  with  Calonne  as  minister,  and  the  Count  Alphonse 
de  Durfort,  who  had  been  his  mediator  with  the  court  of  the  Tuile- 
ries,  and  who  had  brought  him  the  king's  authority  to  treat  with 
Leopold.  The  conference  took  place  at  Alantua,  and  the  Count 
de  Durfort  returned  and  delivered  to  Louis  XVL  in  the  name  of 
the  emperor  a  secret  declaration,  in  which  was  announced  to  him  the 
speedy  assistance  of  the  coalition.  Austria  was  to  advance  thirty- 
five  thousand  men  on  the  frontier  of  Flanders ;  the  German  states, 
fifteen  thousand  on  Alsace;  the  Swiss,  fifteen  thousand  on  the 
Lyonnese  frontier ;  the  King  of  Sardinia,  fifteen  thousand  on  that 
of  Dauphine;  Spain  was  to  augment  its  army  in  Catalonia  to 
twenty  thousand ;  Prussia  was  well  disposed  in  favor  of  the  coali- 
tion, and  the  King  of  England  was  to  take  part  in  it  as  Elector  of 
•  Hanover.  All  these  troops  were  to  move  at  the  same  time,  at  the 
end  of  July;  the  house  of  Bourbon  was  then  to  make  a  protest  and 
the  powers  were  to  publish  a  manifesto;  until  then,  however,  it 
was  essential  to  keep  the  design  secret,  to  avoid  all  partial  insur- 
rection, and  to  make  no  attempt  at  flight.  Such  was  the  result  of 
the  conferences  of  Mantua  on  May  20,  I79i.''* 

Louis  XVL,  either  from  a  desire  not  to  place  himself  entirely 
at  the  mercy  of  foreign  powers  or  dreading  the  ascendency  which 
the  Count  d'Artois,  should  he  return  at  the  head  of  the  victorious 

■'' TIk-  following  princes  of  Europe  may  be  considered  of  the  Bourbon  house: 
Charle-,  IV,  King  of  S])ain ;  Victor  Amadeus  III.,  King  of  Sardinia,  who  was 
fatluT-in-Iaw  of  Louis  XVI.'s  brothers;  Queen  Maria  of  Portugal;  Charles 
IV.,  King  of  Naples;    and  Ferdinand,  Duke  of  Parma. 

■* 'llic  i:niperor  Leopold  ordered  the  Elector  of  Treves  to  disperse  these 
groups  of  cinii^raiit-:. 

•''Almost  the  whole  of  this  grand  plan  was  a  figment  of  the  imagination 
of  Durfort. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     ASSEMBLY  137 

1791 

emigrants,  would  assume  over  the  government  he  had  established, 
preferred  restoring  the  government  alone.  In  General  Bouille  he 
had  a  devoted  and  skillful  partisan,  who  at  the  same  time  con- 
demned both  emigration  and  the  assembly,  and  promised  him  refuge 
and  support  in  his  army.  For  some  time  past  a  secret  correspond- 
ence had  taken  place  between  him  and  the  king.  Bouille  prepared 
everything  to  receive  him.  He  established  a  camp  at  Montmedy 
under  the  pretext  of  a  movement  of  hostile  troops  on  the  frontier; 
he  placed  detachments  on  the  route  the  king  was  to  take  to  serve 
him  for  escort,  and  as  a  motive  was  necessary  for  these  arrange- 
ments, he  alleged  that  of  protecting  the  money  dispatched  for  the 
payment  of  the  troops. 

The  royal  family  on  its  side  made  every  preparation  for  de- 
parture; very  few  persons  were  informed  of  it  and  no  measures 
betrayed  it.  Louis  XVL  and  the  queen,  on  the  contrary,  pursued 
a  line  of  conduct  calculated  to  silence  suspicion ;  and  on  the  night 
of  June  20  they  issued  at  the  appointed  hour  from  the  chateau,  one 
by  one,  in  disguise.  In  this  way  they  eluded  the  vigilance  of  the 
guard,  reached  the  boulevard,  where  a  carriage  awaited  them,  and 
took  the  road  to  Chalons  and  Montmedy.  Throughout  this  course 
Louis  XVI.  was  a  passive  follower  of  Alarie  Antoinette,  who  had 
taken  the  initiative  and  conducted  the  negotiations  necessary  to 
their  flight.  The  king's  behavior  shows  how  little  he  understood 
the  situation.  He  exposed  himself  to  the  eyes  of  the  curious  and 
was  several  times  recognized.  A  postmaster  at  length  stopped  his 
progress. 

On  the  following  day  the  news  of  this  escape  threw  Paris  into 
consternation ;  indignation  soon  became  the  prevailing  sentiment ; 
crowds  assembled  and  the  tumult  increased.  Those  who  had  not 
prevented  the  flight  were  accused  of  favoring  it.  Neither  Bailly 
nor  Lafayette  escaped  the  general  mistrust.  This  event  was  con- 
sidered the  precursor  of  the  invasion  of  France,  the  triumph  of 
the  emigrants,  the  return  of  the  ancient  regime,  and  a  long  civil 
war.  But  the  conduct  of  the  assembly  soon  restored  the  public 
mind  to  calmness  and  security.  It  took  every  measure  which  so 
difficult  a  conjuncture  ref|uire(l.  It  summoned  the  ministerg  and 
authorities  to  its  bar ;  calmed  the  people  by  a  proclamation ;  used 
proper  precautions  to  secure  public  tranquillity;  seized  on  the  ex- 
ecutive power;  commissioned  Montniorin,  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  to  inform  the  European  powers  of  its  pacific  intentions; 


138  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


sent  commissioners  to  secure  the  favor  of  the  troops  and  receive 
their  oath,  no  lonj^er  made  in  tlie  name  of  the  king,  but  in  that  of 
the  assembly ;  and,  lastly,  issued  an  order  through  the  departments 
for  the  arrest  of  anyone  attempting  to  leave  the  kingdom.  "  Thus, 
in  less  than  four  hours,"  says  the  Marquis  de  Ferrieres,  "  the  as- 
semblv  was  invested  with  every  kind  of  power.  The  government 
went  on ;  public  tranquillity  did  not  experience  the  slightest  shock ; 
and  Paris  and  France  learned  from  this  experience,  so  fatal  to 
royalty,  that  the  monarch  is  almost  always  a  stranger  to  the  gov- 
ernment that  exists  in  his  name." 

Meantime  Louis  XVL  and  his  family  were  drawing  near  the 
termination  of  their  journey.  The  success  of  the  first  days'  journeys, 
the  increasing  distance  from  Paris,  rendered  the  king  less  reserved 
and  more  confident;  he  had  the  imprudence  to  show  himself,  was 
recognized,  and  arrested  at  Varennes  on  the  21st.  The  national 
guard  were  under  arms  instantly;  the  officers  of  the  detachments 
posted  by  Bouille  sought  in  vain  to  rescue  the  king;  the  dragoons 
and  hussars  feared  or  refused  to  support  them.  Bouille,  apprised 
of  tb.is  fatal  event,  hastened  himself  at  the  head  of  a  regiment  of 
cavalry.  But  it  was  too  late ;  on  reaching  Varennes  he  found  that 
the  king  had  left  it  several  hours  before;  his  scpiadrons  were  tired 
and  refused  to  advance.  The  national  guard  were  on  all  sides  under 
arms,  and  after  the  failure  of  his  enterprise  he  had  no  alternative 
but  to  leave  the  army  and  quit  France. 

The  assembly,  on  hearing  of  the  king's  arrest,  sent  to  him,  as 
commissioners,  three  of  its  members,  Petion,  Latour-Maubourg, 
and  Barnave.  They  met  the  royal  family  at  Epernay  and  returned 
with  them.  It  was  during  this  journey  that  Barnave,  touched  by 
tlie  good  sense  of  Louis  XVL,  the  fascinations  of  Marie  Antoinette, 
and  the  fate  of  this  fallen  family,  conceived  for  it  an  earnest  in- 
terest. From  that  day  he  gave  it  his  assiduous  counsel  and  sup- 
I)ort.  On  reaching  Paris  the  royal  party  passed  through  an 
immense  crowd,  which  expressed  neither  applause  nor  murmurs, 
but  observed  a  reproachful  silence.^' 

«0n  the  whole  episode  see  Oscar  Browning,  "The  Flight  of  the  King  to 
Varennes"  (1892)  ;  Biniliert,  "  fuite  de  Louis  XVI.  a  Varennes"  (1868); 
Daniels.  Ludzci,^  AT/,  uud  Marie  Antoinette  und  der  Fleucht  nach  Montmedy." 
Hcrh'ii,  iXgo;  Stephen^.  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  I.  pp.  439-454;  Von  Sybel, 
"History  of  tlic  French  Revolution,"  vol.  I.  pp.  301-314;  the  itinerary  may  be 
found,  with  times  and  distances,  in  Fletcher's  edition  of  Carlyle,  "French  Revo- 
lution," vol.  TV.  p.  109.  note  2. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     ASSEMBLY  139 

1791 

The  king  was  provisionally  suspended:  he  had  had  a  guard 
set  over  him,  as  had  the  queen,  and  commissioners  were  appointed 
to  question  him.  Agitation  pervaded  all  parties.  Some  desired 
to  retain  the  king  on  the  throne,  notwithstanding  his  flight ;  others 
maintained  that  he  had  abdicated,  by  condemning,  in  a  manifesto 
addressed  to  the  French  on  his  departure,  both  the  revolution  and 
the  acts  which  had  emanated  from  him  during  that  period,  which 
he  termed  a  time  of  captivity. 

The  republican  party  now  began  to  appear.  Hitherto  it  had 
remained  either  dependent  or  hidden,  because  it  had  been  without 
any  existence  of  its  own,  or  because  it  wanted  a  pretext  for  display- 
ing itself.  The  struggle,  which  lay  at  first  between  the  assembly 
and  the  court,  then  between  the  constitutionalists  and  the  aristocrats, 
and  latterly  among  the  constitutionalists  themselves,  was  now  about 
to  commence  between  the  constitutionalists  and  the  republicans. 
In  times  of  revolution  such  is  the  inevitable  course  of  events.  The 
partisans  of  the  order  newly  established  then  met  and  renounced 
differences  of  opinion  which  were  detrimental  to  their  cause,  even 
while  the  assembly  was  all  powerful,  but  which  had  become  highly 
perilous,  now  that  the  emigration  party  threatened  it  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  multitude  on  the  other.  Mirabeau  was  no  more.  The 
Center,  on  which  this  powerful  man  had  relied,  and  which  con- 
stituted the  least  ambitious  portion  of  the  assembly,  the  most  at- 
tached to  principles,  might,  by  joining  the  Lameths,  reestablish 
Louis  XVI.  and  constitutional  monarchy,  and  present  a  formidable 
opposition  to  the  popular  ebullition. 

This  alliance  took  place ;  the  Lameth  party  came  to  an  under- 
standing with  Andre  and  the  principal  members  of  the  Center,  made 
overtures  to  the  court,  and  opened  the  club  of  the  Feuillants  in  op- 
position to  that  of  the  Jacobins.  But  the  latter  could  not  want 
leaders;  under  Mirabeau  they  had  contended  against  the  Lameths; 
under  the  Lameths  against  ^Mirabeau;  under  Petion  and  Robes- 
pierre they  contended  against  the  Lameths.  The  party  which  desired 
a  second  revolution  had  constantly  supported  the  most  extreme 
actors  in  the  revolution  already  accomplished,  because  this  was 
bringing  within  its  reach  the  struggle  and  the  victory.  At  this 
period,  from  subordinate  it  had  become  independent ;  it  no  longer 
fought  for  others  and  for  opinions  not  its  own,  but  for  itself  and 
under  its  own  banner.  The  C(Uirt,  by  its  multiplied  faults,  its  im- 
prudent machinations,  and,  lastly,  by  the  flight  of  the  monarch,  had 


UO  THE     FRENCH    REVOLUTION 


1791 


given  it  a  sort  of  autliority  to  avow  its  object;  and  the  Lameths, 
by  forsaking  it,  had  left  it  to  its  true  leaders. 

The  Lameths,  in  their  turn,  underwent  the  reproaches  of  the 
multitude,  which  saw  only  their  alliance  with  the  court,  without 
examining  its  conditions.  But  supported  by  all  the  constitution- 
alists, they  were  strongest  in  the  assembly;  and  they  found  it  es- 
sential to  establish  the  king  as  soon  as  possible,  in  order  to  put  a 
stop  to  a  controversy  which  threatened  the  new  order,  by  authorizing 
the  public  party  to  demand  the  abolition  of  the  royal  power  while 
its  suspension  lasted.  The  commissioners  appointed  to  interrogate 
Louis  XVL  dictated  to  him  a  declaration,  which  they  presented  in 
his  name  to  the  assembly,  and  which  modified  the  injurious  effect 
of  his  flight.  The  reporter  declared,  in  the  name  of  the  seven  com- 
mittees intrusted  with  the  examination  of  this  great  question,  that 
tliere  were  no  grounds  for  bringing  Louis  XVL  to  trial  or  for 
pronouncing  his  dethronement.  The  discussion  which  followed 
this  report  was  long  and  animated;  the  efforts  of  the  republican 
party,  notwithstanding  their  pertinacity,  were  unsuccessful.  Most 
of  their  orators  spoke;  they  demanded  deposition  or  a  regency; 
that  is  to  say.  popular  government,  or  an  approach  toward  it.  Bar- 
nave,  after  meeting  all  their  arguments,  finished  his  speech  with 
these  remarkable  words :  "  Regenerators  of  the  empire,  follow 
your  course  without  deviation.  You  have  proved  that  you  had  cour- 
age to  destroy  the  abuses  of  power;  you  have  proved  that  you  pos- 
sessed all  that  was  requisite  to  substitute  wise  and  good  institutions 
in  their  place;  prove  now  that  you  have  the  wisdom  to  protect 
and  maintain  these.  The  nation  has  just  given  a  great  evidence 
of  its  strength  and  courage;  it  has  displayed,  solemnly  and  by  a 
spontaneous  movement,  all  that  it  could  oppose  to  the  attacks  which 
threatened  it.  Continue  the  same  precautions;  let  our  boundaries, 
let  fiur  frontiers,  be  powerfully  defended.  But  while  we  manifest 
our  p(  ivver,  let  us  also  prove  our  moderation ;  let  us  present  peace 
t.)  the  world,  alarmed  by  the  events  which  take  place  among  us; 
let  us  present  an  occasion  for  triumph  to  all  those  who  in  foreign 
lands  have  taken  an  interest  in  our  revolution.  They  cry  to  us 
from  all  parts:  you  are  powerful;  be  wise,  be  moderate;  let  that 
be  the  height  of  your  glory.  Thus  will  you  prove  that  in  various 
circumstances  you  can  employ  various  means,  talents,  and  virtues." 

The  assembly  sided  with  Barnave.  But  to  pacify  the  people 
and  to  provide  f(jr  the  future  safety  of  France    it  decreed  that  the 


CLOSE     op:    the     assembly  141 

1791 

king  should  be  considered  as  abdicating-,  de  facto,  if  he  retracted 
the  oath  he  had  taken  to  the  constitution.  The  president  ^  of  the 
assembly  in  his  first  communication  of  the  news  did  not  speak  of 
the  king's  flight  as  such,  but  that  the  king  had  been  carried  off. 
Robespierre  was  undoubtedly  right  in  declaring  his  assertion  a 
palpable  untruth.  A  note  which  the  king  had  left  admitted  of  no 
question  that  the  fatal  step  had  been  taken  by  his  own  initiative 
and  in  pursuance  of  his  most  ardent  desire.  What  was  to  be  done 
with  the  king?  was  the  question  now  to  be  solved  by  the  national 
assembly.  On  the  25th  the  assembly  declared  that  all  persons  who 
had  accompanied  the  royal  family  should  be  arrested  and  the  king 
and  queen  and  dauphin  be  watched  by  a  special  guard.  It  was 
moved  that  these  persons  should  be  examined  by  the  tribunal  of 
Versailles.  Robespierre  demanded  that  the  king  and  queen,  like 
the  rest,  should  be  examined  by  the  tribunal.  The  motion  of  the 
committee  about  those  who  had  accompanied  the  royal  family  was 
carried,  but  that  left  the  question  open,  "  What  should  be  done 
with  the  king?"  Robespierre  argued:  i.  The  question  as  to 
what  position  had  been  assigned  in  the  constitution  to  the  king, 
with  regard  to  common  crimes,  was  not  at  issue,  for  to  try  to  get 
out  of  the  country  was  not  a  common  crime.  2.  The  constitution 
had  not  forbidden  the  king  to  leave  the  country.  3.  The  consti- 
tution had  not  conferred  upon  the  national  assembly  the  right  to  sit 
in  judgment  over  the  question  whether  the  king  had  put  himself 
without  the  pale  of  the  constitution  or  not.  Just  because  the  ques- 
tion of  the  flight  of  the  king  was  not  treated  in  the  constitution  in 
any  way  whatever,  it  was  not  a  question  at  all  of  law.  It  was  a 
political  question.  Robespierre  demanded  that  the  fate  of  the  king 
be  submitted  to  the  people.  Buzot  went  farther  and  demanded 
that  the  king  be  at  once  proceeded  against  and  receive  his  sentence. 
The  assembly  decided  that  tlie  king  should  be  suspended  till  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution,  and  on  September  13  Louis  XVL 
gave  the  constitution  his  sanction. 

On  the  day  tliat  this  decree  was  adopted  by  the  assembly  the 
leaders  of  the  republican  party  excited  the  multitude  against  it. 
]jut  the  hall  in  which  it  sat  was  surrounded  by  the  national  guard, 
and  it  could  not  be  assailed  or  intimidated.  The  agitators,  unable 
to  prevent  the  passing  of  the  decree,  aroused  the  people  against  it. 
They  drew  up  a  petition  in  which  they  denied  the  competency  of  the 
assembly;  appealed  from  it  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation,  treated 


142  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


Louis  XVL  a?  dcpfised  since  liis  flight,  and  demanded  a  substitute 
for  bini.  This  petition,  drawn  up  by  Brissot,  editor  of  the  Pa- 
triote  FrauQais,  and  president  of  the  Comite  des  Recherches  of 
Paris,  was  carried,  on  July  17,  to  the  altar  of  the  country  in  the 
Champ  dc  ALars:  an  immense  crowd  flocked  to  sign  it.  The  as- 
sembly, apprised  of  what  was  taking  place,  summoned  the  munici- 
pal authorities  to  its  bar  and  directed  them  to  preserve  the  public 
tranquilHtv.  Lafayette  marched  against  the  crowd,  and  in  the 
first  instance  succeeded  in  dispersing  it  without  bloodshed.  The 
mum'ci])al  officers  took  up  their  c|uarters  in  the  Invalides;  but  the 
same  day  the  crowd  returned  in  greater  numbers  and  with  more 
determination.  Danton  and  Camille  Desmoulins  harangued  them 
from  the  altar  of  the  country.  Two  Invalides,  supposed  to  be 
spies,  were  massacred  and  their  heads  stuck  on  pikes.  The  insur- 
rection became  alarming.  Lafayette  again  repaired  to  the  Champ 
dc  Alars  at  the  head  of  twelve  hundred  of  the  national  guard. 
Bailly  accompanied  him  and  had  the  red  banner  unfurled.  The 
crowd  was  then  summoned  to  disperse  in  the  name  of  the  law ;  it 
refused  to  retire,  and,  contemning  authority,  shouted:  "Down  wath 
the  red  flag!"  and  assailed  the  national  guard  with  stones.  La- 
fayette ordered  his  men  to  fire,  but  in  the  air.  The  crowd  was  not 
intimidated  with  this  and  resumed  the  attack;  compelled  by  the 
obstinacy  of  the  insurgents,  Lafayette  then  ordered  another  dis- 
charge, a  real  and  effective  one.  The  terrified  multitude  fled,  leav- 
ing many  dead  on  the  field.  The  disturbances  now  ceased,  order 
was  restored,  but  blood  had  flown,  and  the  people  never  forgave 
Bailly  or  Lafayette  the  cruel  necessity  to  which  itself  had  driven 
them.  This  was  a  regular  combat,  in  which  the  republican  party, 
not  as  yet  sutficiently  strong  or  established,  was  defeated  by  the 
Constitutional  monarchy  party.  The  attempt  of  the  Champ  de 
Mars  was  the  prelude  of  the  popular  movements  which  led  to 
August  10. 

\\  hile  this  was  passing  in  the  assembly  and  at  Paris,  the 
emigrants,  whom  the  flight  of  Louis  XVL  had  elated  with  hope, 
were  tlirown  into  consternation  at  his  arrest.  Monsieur,  who  had 
f]cd  at  tlie  same  time  as  his  brother,  and  with  better  fortune,  ar- 
rived alnnc  at  ]'>russels  with  the  powers  and  title  of  regent.  The 
emiq-rants  thenceforth  relied  only  on  the  assistance  of  Europe;  the 
officers  <iuittc(l  their  colors;  two  hundred  and  ninety  members  of 
the  assembly  protested  against  its  decrees;  in  order  to  legitimatize 


CLOSE     OF     THE    ASSEMBLY  143 

1791 

invasion,  Bouille  wrote  a  threatening  letter,  in  the  inconceivable 
hope  of  intimidating  the  assembly,  and  at  the  same  time  to  take 
upon  himself  the  sole  responsibility  of  the  flight  of  Louis  XVL ; 
finally,  the  emperor,  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  the  Count  d'Artois 
met  at  Pilnitz. 

On  July  6  the  Emperor  Leopold  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
leading  European  powers,  proposing  that  they  should  conjointly 
declare  the  cause  of  Louis  XVL  their  own,  demanding  the  king's 
personal  liberty  and  safety,  and  announcing  that  the  new  order  of 
things  in  France  would  only  be  recognized  by  them  in  case  it  was 
voluntarily  sanctioned  by  the  king.  This  circular  letter  was  an 
absolutely  empty  demonstration. 

What  is  said  of  the  circular  letter  is  true  in  a  still  higher  de- 
gree of  the  Pilnitz  convention.  The  two  monarchs  made  an  en- 
tirely vague  promise  to  help  the  king,  dependent  upon  a  condition 
which  they  knew  could  not  be  fulfilled.  The  very  wording  of  the 
document  shows  this : 

"  His  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  and  His  Majesty,  the  King  of 
Prussia,  having  given  attention  to  the  wishes  and  representations 
of  Monsieur  (the  brother  of  the  King  of  France),  and  of  M.  le 
Count  d'Artois,  jointly  declare  that  they  regard  the  present  sit- 
uation of  his  Majesty,  the  King  of  France,  as  a  matter  of  common 
interest  to  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe.  They  trust  that  this 
interest  will  not  fail  to  be  recognized  by  the  powers,  whose  aid  is 
solicited,  and  that  in  consequence  they  will  not  refuse  to  employ,  in 
conjunction  with  their  said  majesties,  the  most  efficient  means  in 
proportion  to  their  resources,  to  place  the  King  of  France  in  a 
position  to  establish,  with  the  most  absolute  freedom,  the  founda- 
tions of  a  monarchical  form  of  government,  which  shall  at  once  be 
in  harmony  with  the  rights  of  sovereigns  and  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  French  nation.  In  that  case  {Alors  et  dans  ce  cas)  their 
said  majesties  the  Emperor  and  the  King  of  Prussia  are  resolved  to 
act  promptly  and  in  common  accord  with  the  forces  necessary  to 
obtain  the  desired,  common  end. 

"  In  the  meantime  they  will  give  such  orders  to  their  troops  as 
are  necessary  in  order  that  these  may  be  in  a  position  to  be  called 
into  active  service."  The  emperor  is  reported  to  have  said :  "  The 
words  *'  Alors  et  dans  ce  cas '  are  the  law  and  the  prophets  for  me. 
If  England  fails  us  the  '  cas  '  will  not  exist  at  all."  ^ 

■^Quoted  from  Von  Sybcl,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  ch.  vi. 


Ii4  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1791 

In  order  to  understand  this  equivocal  conduct  on  the  part  of 
the  emperor,  we  must  glance  at  eastern  European  politics  where 
the  dominant  interest  of  the  powers  lay. 

Leopold  was  determined  to  cut  loose  from  Russia,  with  the 
ultimate  view  of  dividing-  Turkey  between  the  two  powers.  The 
state  of  Austria  was  infinitely  superior  to  that  of  Frederick  William 
ir.,  who  had  succeeded  to  Frederick  the  Great  in  1786.  Poland 
was  now  entering  upon  a  new  phase  of  life.  The  Polish  princes 
of  late  had  been  greatly  embittered  against  Russia.  A  bold  at- 
tempt was  made  to  bring  about  a  radical  political  reorganization 
of  the  kingdom. 

On  May  3,  1791,  King  Stanislas  appeared  in  the  diet  and 
suljmitted  the  draft  of  a  new  constitution,  which  was  to  restore  the 
vitality  of  the  kingdom.  Changes  made  by  this  were:  i.  The 
crown  to  become  hereditary  in  the  house  of  Saxony,  instead  of 
elective.  2.  The  Liberum  veto  to  be  abolished.  3.  The  bour- 
geoisie to  be  admitted  to  political  rights.  This  coup  d'etat  was 
justified  by  the  assertion,  unfounded,  that  Russia  and  Prussia 
contemplated  a  new  partition  of  Poland.  In  the  history  of  Poland 
there  is  no  brighter  day  than  ]\Iay  3,  1791. 

The  interest  of  Austria  was  evidently  to  support  any  move- 
ment tending  to  restore  some  degree  of  vitality  to  Poland,  because 
it  would  attach  a  heavy  weight  to  the  feet  of  Russia,  which  was 
constantly  and  energetically  striving  to  block  Austria's  way  in  the 
East,  and  at  the  same  time,  on  the  other  hand,  keep  Prussia,  Aus- 
tria's rival,  in  check.  To  Prussia,  too,  the  political  regeneration 
of  Poland  was,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  a  vital  question, 
and  she  had  in  consequence,  to  the  last  strenuously  to  oppose  the 
intention  to  make  the  crowai  hereditary.  Everything  concerning 
I'^rance  is  determined  with  these  powers  in  the  last  place  by  what 
their  interests  in  their  opinion  dictate  with  regard  to  the  Eastern 
Oucstion.  The  Prussian  ministers  were  fully  aware  that  not  a 
sound  political  reason  could  be  adduced  for  Prussia's  interv^ening 
in  iM-ancc,  while  many  reasons,  of  the  greatest  weight,  admonished 
lier  to  desist  from  such  a  policy. 

1  his  carefully  worded  declaration,  although  meant  far  more  as 
a  sop  to  the  imi)ortunate  emigrants  than  as  a  threat  to  France,  only 
served  to  irritate  the  assembly  and  the  people.  Men  asked  one 
anotlier  wliat  right  the  princes  of  F.urope  had  to  interfere  in  the 
government  of  h'rance ;  by  what  right  they  gave  orders  to  a  great 


CLOSE     OF     THE     ASSEMBLY  145 

1791 

people,  and  imposed  conditions  upon  it;  and  since  the  sovereigns 
appealed  to  force,  the  people  of  France  prepared  to  resist  them. 
The  frontiers  were  put  in  a  state  of  defense;  a  hundred  thousand 
men  of  the  national  guard  were  enrolled. 

Meantime,  the  assembly  approached  the  close  of  its  labors ; 
civil  relations,  public  taxation,  the  nature  of  crimes,  their  prosecu- 
tion, and  their  punishment  had  been  by  it  as  wisely  regulated  as 
were  the  public  and  constitutional  relations  of  the  country.  Equal- 
ity had  been  introduced  into  the  law  of  inheritance,  into  taxation, 
and  into  punishments ;  nothing  remained  but  to  unite  all  the  con- 
stitutional decrees  into  a  body  and  submit  them  to  the  king  for  his 
approval.  The  assembly  was  growing  weary  of  its  labors  and  of 
its  dissensions;  the  people  itself,  who  in  France  ever  become  tired 
of  that  which  continues  beyond  a  certain  time,  desired  a  new  na- 
tional representation;  the  convocation  of  the  electoral  colleges  was 
therefore  fixed  for  August  5.  Unfortunately,  the  members  of  the 
present  assembly  could  not  form  part  of  the  succeeding  one;  this 
had  been  decided  before  the  flight  to  Varennes.^ 

The  collection  of  the  constitutional  decrees  into  one  body  led 
to  the  idea  of  revising  them.  But  this  idea  of  revision  gave  great 
dissatisfaction,  and  was  almost  of  no  effect ;  it  was  not  desirable 
to  render  the  constitution  more  aristocratic  by  after-measures,  lest 
the  multitude  should  require  it  to  be  made  more  popular.  To 
limit  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation,  and,  at  the  same  time,  not  to 
overkxDk  it,  the  assembly  declared  that  France  had  a  right  to  revise 
its  constitution,  but  that  it  was  prudent  not  to  exercise  this  right 
for  thirty  years. 

The  act  of  the  constitution  was  presented  to  the  king  by  sixty 
deputies ;  the  suspension  being  taken  off,  Louis  XVL  resumed  the 
exercise  of  his  power,  and  the  guard  the  law  had  given  him  was 
placed  under  his  own  command.  Thus  restored  to  freedom,  the 
constitution  was  submitted  to  him.  After  examining  it  for  several 
days,  "  I  accept  tlie  constitution,"  he  wrote  to  the  assembly  (Sep- 
tember 13,1791):  "I  engage  to  maintain  it  at  home,  to  defend 
it  from  all  attacks  from  abroad,  and  to  cause  its  execution  by  all 
the  means  it  places  at  my  disposal.  I  declare  that,  being  informed 
of  the  attachment  of  the  great  majority  of  the  people  to  the  consti- 

s  Robespierre  in  May  had  moved  the  famous  "  self-denying "  ordinance, 
which  provided  tliat  no  member  of  the  national  assembly  might  sit  in  the  legisla- 
tive assembl}'.  Such  a  doctrinaire  resolution  simply  deprived  France  of  whtt 
political  wisdom  and  experience  it  had  acquired  since  1789. 


146  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


tution,  I  renounce  my  claim  to  assist  in  the  work,  and  that,  being 
responsible  to  the  nation  alone,  no  other  person,  now  that  I  have 
made  this  renunciation,  has  a  right  to  complain." 

This  letter  excited  general  approbation.  Lafayette  demanded 
and  procured  an  amnesty  in  favor  of  those  who  were  under  prose- 
cution for  favoring  the  king's  flight,  or  for  proceedings  against  the 
revolution.  Next  day  the  king  came  in  person  to  accept  the  consti- 
tution in  the  assembly.  The  populace  attended  him  thither  with 
acclamations ;  he  was  the  object  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  deputies 
and  spectators,  and  he  regained  that  day  the  confidence  and  affec- 
tion of  his  subjects.  The  30th  of  September  was  fixed  for  the 
closing  of  the  assembly;  the  king  was  present;  his  speech  was  often 
interrupted  by  applause,  and  when  he  said :  "  For  you,  gentlemen, 
who  during  a  long  and  arduous  career  have  displayed  such  inde- 
fatigable zeal,  there  remains  one  duty  to  fulfill  when  you  have  re- 
turned to  your  homes  over  the  country :  to  explain  to  your  fellow- 
citizens  the  true  meaning  of  the  laws  you  have  made  for  them ;  to 
urge  those  who  slight  them ;  to  improve  and  unite  all  opinions  by 
the  example  you  shall  afford  of  your  love  of  order,  and  of  sub- 
mission to  the  laws,"  cries  of  "Yes!  yes!"  were  uttered  by  all 
the  deputies  with  one  common  voice.  "  I  rely  on  your  being  the 
interpreters  of  my  sentiments  to  your  fellow-citizens."  "Yes! 
yes!  "  "  Tell  them  all  that  the  king  will  always  be  their  first  and 
most  faithful  friend;  that  he  needs  their  love;  that  he  can  only  be 
happy  with  them  and  by  their  means ;  the  hope  of  contributing  to 
their  happiness  will  sustain  my  courage,  as  the  satisfaction  of  hav- 
ing succeeded  will  be  my  sweetest  recompense." 

"  It  is  a  speech  worthy  of  Henry  IV.,"  said  a  voice,  and  the 
king  left  the  hall  amid  the  loudest  testimonials  of  love. 

Then  Thouret,  in  a  loud  voice,  and  addressing  the  people,  ex- 
claimed :  "  The  constituent  assembly  pronounces  its  mission  ac- 
complished, and  that  its  sittings  now  terminate."  Thus  closed  this 
first  and  glorious  assembly  of  the  nation.  It  was  courageous,  in- 
telligent, just,  and  had  but  one  passion — a  passion  for  law.  It 
accomplished  in  two  years,  by  its  efforts  and  with  indefatigable 
perseverance,  the  greatest  revolution  ever  witnessed  by  one  gener- 
ation of  men.  Amid  its  labors  it  repressed  despotism  and  anarchy 
by  frustrating  the  conspiracies  of  the  aristocracy  and  maintaining 
the  multitude  in  subordination.  Its  only  fault  was  the  not  confid- 
mg  the  guidance  of  tlic  revolution  to  those  who  were  its  authors; 


CLOSE     OF     THE     ASS.EMBLY  147 

1789 

it  divested  itself  of  power,  like  those  legislators  of  antiquity  who 
exiled  themselves  from  their  country  after  giving  it  a  constitution. 
A  new  assembly  did  not  apply  itself  to  consolidating  its  work,  and 
the  revolution,  which  ought  to  have  been  finished,  was  recom- 
menced. 

The  constitution  of  1791  was  based  on  principles  adapted  to 
the  ideas  and  situation  of  France.  This  constitution  was  the  work 
of  the  middle  class,  then  the  strongest;  for,  as  is  well  known,  the 
predominant  force  ever  takes  possession  of  institutions.  When 
it  belongs  to  one  man  alone,  it  is  despotism ;  when  to  several,  it  is 
privilege ;  when  to  all,  it  is  right ;  this  last  state  is  the  limit,  as  it  is 
the  origin,  of  society.  France  had  at  length  attained  it,  after 
passing  through  feudalism,  which  was  the  aristocratic  institution, 
and  absolute  power,  which  was  the  monarchical  institution.  Equal- 
ity was  consecrated  among  the  citizens,  and  delegation  recognized 
among  the  powers;  such  were  to  be,  under  the  new  system,  the 
condition  of  men  and  the  form  of  government. 

In  this  constitution  the  people  was  the  source  of  all  powers, 
but  it  exercised  none ;  it  was  intrusted  only  with  election  in  the 
first  instance,  and  its  magistrates  were  selected  by  men  chosen  from 
among  the  enlightened  portions  of  the  community.  The  latter 
constituted  the  assembly,  the  law  courts,  the  public  offices,  the  cor- 
porations, the  militia,  and  thus  possessed  all  the  force  and  all  the 
power  of  the  state.  It  alone  was  fit  to  exercise  them,  because  it 
alone  had  the  intelligence  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  government. 
The  people  were  not  yet  sufficiently  advanced  to  participate  in 
power,  consequently  it  was  only  by  accident  and  in  the  most  casual 
and  evanescent  manner  that  [)ower  fell  into  its  hands ;  but  it  re- 
ceived civic  education,  and  was  disciplined  to  government  in  the 
primary  assemblies,  according  to  the  true  aim  of  society,  which  is 
not  to  confer  its  advantages  as  a  patrimony  on  one  particular  class, 
but  to  make  all  share  in  them,  when  all  are  capable  of  acquiring 
them. 

This  was  the  leading  characteristic  of  the  constitution  of  1791 ; 
as  each,  by  degrees,  became  competent  to  enjoy  the  right,  he 
was  admitted  to  it ;  it  extended  its  limits  with  the  extension  of  civ- 
ilization, which  every  day  calls  a  greater  number  of  men  to  the 
administration  of  the  state.  In  this  way  it  had  established  true 
equality,  whose  real  character  is  admissibility,  as  that  of  inequality 
is  exclusion.      In  rendering  power  transferable  by  election,  it  made 


148  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


it  a  public  magistracy;  while  privilege,  in  rendering  it  hereditary 
by  transmission,  makes  it  private  property. 

The  constitution  of  1791  established  homogeneous  powers 
which  corresponded  among  themselves,  and  reciprocally  restrained 
each  other :  still,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  royal  authority  was  too 
subordinate  to  popular  power.  It  is  never  otherwise;  sovereignty, 
from  whatever  source  derived,  gives  itself  a  feeble  counterpoise 
when  it  limits  itself.  A  constituent  assembly  enfeebles  royalty;  a 
king  who  is  a  legislator  limits  the  prerogatives  of  an  assembly.'' 

This  constitution  was,  however,  less  democratic  than  that  of 
the  United  States,  which  had  been  practicable,  despite  the  extent 
of  the  territory,  proving  that  it  is  not  the  form  of  institutions, 
but  the  assent  which  they  obtain,  or  the  dissent  which  they  excite, 
which  permits  or  hinders  their  establishment.  In  a  new  country, 
after  a  revolution  of  independence,  as  in  America,  any  constitution 
is  possible  ;^'^  there  is  but  one  hostile  party,  that  of  the  metropolis, 
and  when  that  is  overcome,  the  struggle  ceases,  because  defeat 
leads  to  its  expulsion.  It  is  not  so  with  social  revolutions  among 
nations  who  have  long  been  in  existence.  Changes  attack  inter- 
ests, interests  form  parties,  parties  enter  into  contest,  and  the  more 
victory  spreads  the  greater  grows  opposition.  This  is  what  hap- 
pened in  France.  The  work  of  the  constituent  assembly  perished 
less  from  its  defects  than  from  the  attacks  of  faction.  Placed  be- 
tween the  aristocracy  and  the  multitude,  it  was  attacked  by  the  one 
and  invaded  by  the  other.  The  latter  would  not  have  become 
sovereign  had  not  civil  war  and  the  foreign  coalition  called  for  its 
intervention  and  aid.  To  defend  the  country  it  became  necessary 
that  it  should  govern  it ;  then  it  effected  its  revolution,  as  the 
middle  class  had  effected  its  own.  It  had  its  July  14  in  August  10; 
its  constituent  assembly,  the  convention ;  its  government,  which  was 
the  committee  of  public  safety;  yet,  as  we  shall  see,  without  emigra- 
tion there  would  have  been  no  republic. 

^  For  sDiiie  estimates  of  the  work  of  the  national  assembly  in  daring,  de- 
stroying, and  doing,  see  Pierre,  "  Assemblccs  polUiques  en  France"  ch.  i. ;  Burke's 
"Reflections  upon  the  I'rench  Revohition  "  ;  Stephens,  "French  Revolution,"  vol. 
I.  pp.  464  ff. ;  Taine,  "  I'>cnch  Revolution."  vol.  I.  p.  214  ff. 

'"  1  iiis  statement  shows  tlie  author's  inability  to  recognize  the  difference 
between  institutions  which  have  grown  and  institutions  which  have  been  made. 


PART  III 

THE   FIRST   REPUBLIC.     OCTOBER   1,  1791- 
JUNE  2,  1793 


Chapter    VII 

THE   NATIONAL   LEGISLATIVE   ASSEMBLY 
OCTOBER    I,    1791-SEPTEMBER   21,    1792 

THE  new  assembly  opened  its  session  on  October  i,  1791. 
It  declared  itself  immediately  the  national  legislative  as- 
sembly, and  sat  in  the  riding-hall  which  stood  in  the 
present  Rue  de  Rivoli,  on  ground  actually  a  portion  of  the  garden 
of  the  Tuileries.  The  national  assembly  had  occupied  this  hall 
when  it  came  to  Paris,  and  it  was  the  place  of  meeting  of  the  con- 
vention down  to  May  9,  1793.  From  its  first  appearance  it  had  oc- 
casion to  display  its  attachment  to  the  actual  state  of  things  and  the 
respect  it  felt  for  the  authors  of  French  liberty.  The  book  of  the 
constitution  was  solemnly  presented  to  it  by  the  archivist  Camus 
accompanied  by  twelve  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  national 
representation.  The  assembly  received  the  constitutional  act  stand- 
ing and  uncovered,  and,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people  who 
occupied  the  tribunes,  took  the  oath  "  to  live  free  or  perish !  " 
A  vote  of  thanks  was  given  by  it  to  the  members  of  the  constituent 
assembly,  and  it  then  prepared  to  commence  its  labors. 

But  its  first  relations  with  the  king  had  not  the  same  character 
of  union  and  confidence.  The  court,  doubtless  hoping  to  regain 
under  the  legislative  the  superior  position  which  it  had  lost  under 
the  constituent  assembly,  did  not  employ  sufficient  management 
toward  a  susceptible  and  anxious  popular  authority,  which  was 
then  considered  the  first  of  the  state.  The  assembly  sent  a  deputa- 
tion of  sixty  of  its  members  to  the  king  to  announce  its  opening. 
The  king  did  not  receive  them  in  person,  and  sent  word  by  the 
minister  of  justice  that  he  could  not  give  them  audience  till  noon 
on  the  following  day.  Tliis  unceremonious  dismissal,  and  the  indi- 
rect communication  between  the  national  representatives  and  the 
prince,  by  means  of  a  minister,  hurt  the  deputation  excessively. 
Accordingly,  when  the  audience  took  place  Duchastel  said  to  him 
laconically:  "Sire,  the  national  legislative  assembly  is  sitting;  we 
are  deputed  to  inform  you  of  this."     Louis  XVI.  replied  still  more 

151 


152  THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION 


1791 


dryly :  "  I  cannot  visit  you  before  Friday."  This  conduct  of  the 
court  toward  the  assembly  was  impolitic,  and  little  calculated  to 
conciliate  the  affection  of  the  people. 

The  assembly  approved  of  the  cold  manner  in  which  the  presi- 
dent of  the  deputation  had  expressed  himself,  and  soon  indulged  in 
an  act  of  reprisal.  The  ceremony  with  which  the  king  was  to  be 
received  among  them  was  arranged  according  to  preceding  laws.  A 
fauteuil  in  the  form  of  a  throne  was  reserved  for  him ;  they  used 
toward  him  the  titles  of  sire  and  majesty,  and  the  deputies,  standing 
and  uncovered  on  his  entrance,  were  to  sit  down,  put  on  their  hats, 
and  rise  again,  following  with  deference  all  the  movements  of  the 
prince.  Some  restless  and  exaggerated  minds  considered  this  con- 
descension unworthy  of  a  sovereign  assembly.  The  deputy  Grange- 
neuve  required  that  the  words  sire  and  majesty  should  be  re- 
placed by  the  "  more  constitutional  and  finer  "  title  of  king  of  the 
French.  Couthon  strongly  enforced  this  motion,  and  proposed  that 
a  simple  fauteuil  should  be  assigned  to  the  king,  exactly  like  the 
president's.  These  motions  excited  some  slight  disapprobation  on 
the  part  of  a  few  members,  but  the  greater  number  received  them 
eagerly.  "  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  suppose,"  said  Guadet,  "  that  the 
French  people  will  always  venerate  the  simple  fauteuil  upon  which 
sits  the  president  of  the  national  representatives,  much  more  than 
the  gilded  fauteuil  where  sits  the  head  of  the  executive  power.  I  will 
say  nothing,  gentlemen,  of  the  titles  of  sire  and  majesty.  It  aston- 
ishes me  to  find  the  national  assembly  deliberating  whether  they 
shall  be  retained.  The  word  sire  signifies  seigneur;  it  belonged  to 
the  feudal  system,  which  has  ceased  to  exist.  As  for  the  term 
majesty,  it  should  only  be  employed  in  speaking  of  God  and  of  the 
people."  ^ 

The  previous  question  was  demanded,  but  feebly;  these  mo- 
tions were  put  to  the  vote  and  carried  by  a  considerable  majority. 
Yet,  as  this  decree  appeared  hostile,  the  constitutional  opinion  pro- 
nounced itself  against  it,  and  censured  this  too  excessive  rigor  in 
the  application  of  principles.  On  the  following  day  those  who  had 
demanded  the  previous  question  moved  that  the  decisions  of  the 
day  before  should  be  abandoned.  A  report  was  circulated  at  the 
same  time  that  the  king  would  not  enter  the  assembly  if  the  decree 

^  It  was  Couthon  who  first  used  this  famous  phrase.  Compare  it  with  the 
utterance  of  Challet  on  March  21,  1793,  in  the  Central  Chibs  of  Lyons:  "Know 
that  ynu  are  kings  and  crowned  kings.  Do  you  not  feel  the  sovereignty  which 
circulates  in  your  veins !  " 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  153 

1791 

were  maintained;  and  the  decree  was  revoked.  These  petty 
skirmishes  between  two  powers  who  had  to  fear  usurpations, 
assumptions,  and  more  especially  ill  will  between  them,  terminated 
here  on  this  occasion,  and  all  recollection  of  them  was  effaced  by 
the  presence  of  Louis  XVI.  in  the  legislative  body,  where  he  was 
received  with  great  respect  and  the  most  lively  enthusiasm. 

General  pacification  formed  the  chief  topic  of  his  speech.  He 
pointed  out  to  the  assembly  the  subjects  that  ought  to  attract  its 
attention — finance,  civil  law,  commerce,  trade,  and  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  new  government ;  he  promised  to  employ  his  influence 
to  restore  order  and  discipline  in  the  army,  to  put  the  kingdom  in 
a  state  of  defense  and  to  diffuse  ideas  respecting  the  French  Revo- 
lution calculated  to  reestablish  a  good  understanding  in  Europe. 
He  added  the  following  words,  which  were  received  with  much 
applause :  "  Gentlemen,  in  order  that  your  important  labors,  as 
well  as  your  zeal,  may  produce  all  the  good  which  may  be  expected 
from  them,  a  constant  harmony  and  unchanging  confidence  should 
reign  between  the  legislative  body  and  the  king.  The  enemies  of 
our  peace  seek  but  too  eagerly  to  disunite  us,  but  let  love  of  coun- 
try cement  our  union,  and  let  public  interest  make  us  inseparable ! 
Thus  public  power  may  develop  itself  without  obstacle;  govern- 
ment will  not  be  harassed  by  vain  fears ;  the  possessions  and  faith 
of  each  will  be  equally  protected,  and  no  pretext  will  remain  for 
anyone  to  live  apart  from  a  country  where  the  laws  are  in  vigor, 
and  where  the  rights  of  all  are  respected."  Unfortunately  there 
were  two  classes,  without  the  revolution,  that  would  not  enter  into 
composition  with  it,  and  whose  efforts  in  Europe  and  the  interior 
of  France  were  to  prevent  the  realization  of  these  wise  and  pacific 
words.  As  soon  as  there  are  displaced  parties  in  a  state  a  struggle 
will  result,  and  measures  of  hostility  must  be  taken  against  them. 
Accordingly,  the  internal  troubles,  fomented  by  nonjuring  priests, 
the  military  assemblings  of  emigrants,  and  the  preparations  for  the 
coalition  soon  drove  the  legislative  assembly  further  than  the  con- 
stitution allowed,  and  than  itself  had  proposed. 

The  composition  of  this  assembly  was  completely  popular. 
The  prevailing  ideas  being  in  favor  of  the  revolution,  the  court, 
nobilitv,  and  clerjjv  had  exercised  no  influence  over  the  elections. 
There  were  not  in  this  assembly,  as  in  the  preceding,  partisans  of 
absolute  power  and  of  privilege.  The  two  factions  of  the  Left 
side,  who  had  separated  toward  the  close  of  the  constituent  assem- 


164  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


bly,  were  again  brought  face  to  face,  but  no  longer  in  the  same 
proportion  of  number  and  strength.  The  popular  minority  of  the 
previous  assembly  became  the  majority  in  this.  But  unfortunately 
France  was  compelled,  on  account  of  the  mad  motion  of  Robes- 
pierre, to  take  without  a  single  exception  men  who  were  without 
any  political,  or  at  least  without  any  legislative,  experience.  More- 
over, the  middle  classes  were  tired  of  politics.  Wherever  elections 
took  place  only  the  minority  went  to  the  polls.  The  more  radical 
becomes  the  revolution,  the  deeper  the  weariness  and  lassitude  of 
politics  in  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people,  and  the  more 
radical  the  small  minority  who  had,  in  fact,  the  monopoly  of 
politics.  Opinions  and  parties  soon  became  known.  As  in  the 
constituent  assembly  there  was  a  Right,  a  Center,  a  Left,  but  of  a 
perfectly  different  character. 

The  Right,  composed  of  firm  and  absolute  constitutionalists, 
composed  the  Feuillant  party.  Its  principal  speakers  were  Dumas, 
Ramond,  Vaublanc,  and  Beugnot.  It  had  some  relations  with  the 
court,  through  Barnave,  Duport,  and  Alexander  Lameth,  who  were 
its  former  leaders,  but  whose  counsels  were  rarely  followed  by 
Louis  XVI.,  who  gave  himself  up  with  more  confidence  to  the  ad- 
vice of  those  immediately  around  him.  Out  of  doors  it  supported 
itself  on  the  club  of  the  Feuillants  and  upon  the  bourgeoisie.  The 
national  guard,  the  army,  the  directory  of  the  department,  and  in 
general  all  the  constituted  authorities  were  favorable  to  it.  But 
this  party,  which  no  longer  prevailed  in  the  assembly,  soon  lost  a 
post  quite  as  essential,  that  of  the  municipality,  which  was  occupied 
by  its  adversaries  of  the  Left. 

These  formed  the  party  called  Girondist,  and  which  in  the 
revolution  formed  only  an  intermediate  party  between  the  middle 
class  and  the  multitude.  It  had  then  no  subversive  project,  but  it 
was  disposed  to  defend  the  revolution  in  every  way,  and  in  this 
differed  from  the  constitutionalists,  who  would  only  defend  it  with 
the  law.  At  its  head  were  the  brilliant  orators  of  the  department  of 
the  Gironde,  who  gave  their  name  to  the  party,  Vergniaud.  Guadet, 
Gensonne,  and  the  Provencal  Isnard,  who  had  a  style  of  still  more 
impassioned  eloquence  than  theirs.  Its  chief  leader  was  Brissot, 
who.  a  member  of  the  corporation  of  Paris  during  the  last  session, 
had  subsequently  become  a  member  of  the  assembly.  The  opinions 
of  Brissot,  who  advocated  a  complete  reform;  his  great  activity  of 
mmd,  which  he  developed  at  once  in  the  journal  the  Patriote,  in 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  155 

1791 

the  tribune  of  the  assembly,  and  at  the  club  of  the  Jacobins ;  his 
exact  and  extensive  knowledge  of  the  position  of  foreign  powers 
g-ave  him  great  ascendency  at  the  moment  of  a  struggle  between 
parties,  and  of  a  war  with  Europe.  Condorcet  possessed  influence 
of  another  description;  he  owed  this  to  his  profound  ideas,  to  his 
superior  reason,  which  almost  procured  him  the  place  of  Sieyes  in 
this  second  revolutionary  generation.  Petion,  of  a  calm  and 
determined  character,  was  the  active  man  of  his  party.  His  tran- 
quil brow,  his  fluent  elocution,  his  acquaintance  with  the  people, 
soon  procured  for  him  the  municipal  magistracy,  which  Bailly  had 
discharged  for  the  middle  class." 

The  Left  side  had  in  the  assembly  the  nucleus  of  a  party  more 
extreme  than  itself,  and  the  members  of  which,  such  as  Chabot, 
Bazire,  Merlin,  were  to  the  Girondists  what  Petion,  Buzot, 
Robespierre  had  been  to  the  Left  side  of  the  constituent.  This 
was  the  commencement  of  the  democratic  faction  which,  without, 
served  as  auxiliary  to  the  Gironde,  and  which  managed  the  clubs 
and  the  multitude.  Robespierre  in  the  society  of  the  Jacobins, 
where  he  established  his  sway  after  leaving  the  assembly;  Danton, 
Camille   Desmoulins,    and   Fabre    d'Eglantine   at   the    Cordeliers, 

2  Mignet  uses  the  name  Girondist  by  anticipation.  Tlie  Girondist  party  was 
not  so  called  until  the  time  of  the  convention.  In  the  legislative  assembly  they 
were  generally  called  Brissotins. — Eire,  "/.a  Lcgendc  des  Girondins."  1882,  p.  34. 
On  the  party  see  Guadet,  "  Lcs  Girondins."  pp.  8-16,  36-39;  Taine,  "French  Rev- 
olution," vol.  II.  70-73;  Von  Sybel,  "History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  vol.  I. 
pp.  373-380.  Lamartine's  famous  "  History  of  the  Girondists  "  created  a  cult  in 
their  behalf  in  the  middle  of  the  last  centurj%  but  it  is  now  recognized  that  as  a 
party  the  Girondists  merit  more  reproach  than  honor.  With  individual  excep- 
tions, like  Condorcet,  it  was  a  party  without  principle  and  of  ineffective  leadership. 

Brissot  had  won  a  doubtful  reputation  in  America.  The  more  the  revolution 
took  a  radical  turn,  the  more  he  commanded  the  favor  of  the  mob.  There  was 
nothing  of  the  statesman  in  him,  but  if  anyone,  he  had  been  destined  by  nature 
for  a  political  agitator.     He  used  his  pen  and  tongue  with  equal  readiness. 

Mignct's  eulogy  is  an  altogether  false  judgment  of  Petion.  He  deserves 
nothing  but  execration. 

JMignet's  statement  that  the  Girondist  party  "  was  disposed  to  defend  the 
revolution  in  every  way,  and  in  this  differed  from  the  constitutionalists,  who 
would  only  defend  it  with  the  law,"  is  a  euphemistic  way  of  saying  that  the 
revolution  had  not  been  revolutionary  enough;  it  is  approval  of  further  revolu- 
tion. The  Girondists  had  the  conviction  that  the  constitution  was  no  longer 
abreast  of  the  times.  The  basis  of  its  leading  members  was  a  purely  negative  one. 
They  schemed  to  supplant  a  monarchical  form  of  government  by  that  of  a  repub- 
lican typo.  'I'hey  were  eminently  fitted  to  excite  the  masses,  but  absolutely  unfit  to 
guide  and  restrain  them.  After  they  had  demolished  everything  there  was  to 
demolish,  after  they  had  driven  the  country  into  a  war  of  which  nobody  could 
sec  the  end,  they  were  powerless  to  control  events. — Ed. 


156  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


where  they  had  founded  a  club  of  innovators  more  extreme  than 
the  Jacobins,  composed  of  men  of  the  bourgeoisie ;  the  brewer  San- 
terre  in  the  faubourgs,  where  the  popular  power  lay,  were  the  true 
chiefs  of  this  faction,  which  depended  on  one  whole  class,  and 
aspired  at  founding  its  own  regime. 

The  Center  of  the  legislative  assembly  was  sincerely  attached 
to  the  new  order  of  things.  It  had  almost  the  same  opinions,  the 
same  inclination  for  moderation  as  the  Center  of  the  constituent 
assembly;  but  its  power  was  very  different:  it  was  no  longer  at  the 
head  of  an  established  class,  and  by  the  aid  of  which  it  could  master 
all  the  extreme  parties.  Public  dangers,  making  the  want  of  ex- 
alted opinions  and  parties  from  without  again  felt,  completely 
annulled  the  Center.  It  was  soon  won  over  to  the  strongest  side, 
the  fate  of  all  moderate  parties,  and  the  Left  swayed  it. 

The  situation  of  the  assembly  was  very  difficult.  Its  pred- 
ecessor had  left  it  parties  which  it  evidently  could  not  pacify. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  session  it  was  obliged  to  turn  its  atten- 
tion to  these,  and  that  in  opposing  them.  Emigration  was  making 
an  alarming  progress :  the  king's  two  brothers,  the  Prince  de 
Conde  and  the  Duke  de  Bourbon,  had  protested  against  the  accept- 
ing of  the  constitutional  act  by  Louis  XVI.,  that  is,  against  the 
only  means  of  accommodation ;  they  had  said  that  the  king  could 
not  alienate  the  rights  of  the  ancient  monarchy;  and  their  protest, 
circulating  throughout  France,  had  produced  a  great  effect  on  their 
partisans.  Officers  quitted  the  armies,  the  nobility  their  chateaux, 
whole  companies  deserted  to  enlist  on  the  frontiers.  Distaffs  were 
sent  to  those  who  wavered ;  and  those  who  did  not  emigrate  w^ere 
threatened  with  the  loss  of  their  position  when  the  nobility  should 
return  victorious.  In  the  Austrian  Low  Countries  and  the  border- 
ing electorates  there  was  formed  what  was  called  "  La  France  ex- 
tcricurc."  The  counter-revolution  was  openly  preparing  at  Brussels, 
Worms,  and  Coblentz  under  the  protection  and  even  with  the 
assistance  of  foreign  courts.  The  ambassadors  of  the  emigrants 
were  rccei\ed,  while  those  of  the  I'^rench  government  w^ere  dis- 
missed ill  received,  or  even  thrown  into  prison,  as  in  the  case  of 
Duveryer.  1^'rcnch  merchants  and  travelers  suspected  of  jiatri- 
otisni  and  attachment  to  the  revolution  were  scouted  throughout 
Europe.  Several  powers  had  declared  themselves  without  dis- 
guise: of  this  number  were  Sweden,  Russia,  and  Spain,  the  latter 
at  that  time  being  governed  by  the  :Marquis  de  Blanca-Florida,  a 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  157 

1791 

man  entirely  devoted  to  the  emigrant  party.  At  the  same  time 
Prussia  kept  its  army  prepared  for  war:  the  Hnes  of  the  Spanish 
and  Sardinian  troops  increased  on  the  Alpine  and  Pyrenean  fron- 
tiers, and  Gustavus  was  assembling  a  Swedish  army. 

The  dissentient  ecclesiastics  left  nothing  undone  which  might 
produce  a  diversion  in  favor  of  the  emigrants  at  home.  "  Priests, 
and  especially  bishops,"  says  the  Marquis  de  Ferrieres,  "  employed 
all  the  resources  of  fanaticism  to  excite  the  people,  in  town  and 
country,  against  the  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy."  Bishops 
ordered  the  priests  no  longer  to  perform  divine  sennce  in  the  same 
church  with  the  constitutional  priests,  for  fear  the  people  might 
confound  the  two.  "  Independently,"  he  adds,  "  of  circular  letters 
written  to  the  cures,  instructions  intended  for  the  people  were  cir- 
culated through  the  country.  They  said  that  the  sacraments  could 
not  be  effectually  administered  by  the  constitutional  priests,  whom 
they  called  Intruders,  and  that  everyone  attending  their  ministra- 
tions became  by  their  presence  guilty  of  mortal  sin ;  that  those  who 
were  married  by  Intruders  were  not  married;  that  they  brought  a 
curse  upon  tliemselves  and  upon  their  children ;  that  no  one  should 
have  communication  with  them,  or  with  those  separated  from  the 
church ;  that  the  municipal  officers  who  installed  them  like  them 
became  apostates ;  that  the  moment  of  their  installation  all  bell- 
ringers  and  sextons  ought  to  resign  their  situations.  .  .  .  These 
fanatical  addresses  produced  the  effect  which  the  bishops  expected. 
Religious  disturbances  broke  out  on  all  sides." 

Insurrection  more  especially  broke  out  in  Calvados,  GeA'au- 
dan,  and  La  Vendee.  These  districts  were  ill-disposed  toward  the 
revolution,  because  they  contained  few  of  the  middle  and  intelli- 
gent classes,  and  because  the  populace,  up  to  that  time,  had  been 
kept  in  a  state  of  dependence  on  the  nobility  and  clergy.  The 
Girondists,  taking  alarm,  wished  to  adopt  rigorous  measures 
against  emigration  and  the  dissentient  priests  who  attacked  the 
new  order  of  things.  Brissot  proposed  putting  a  stop  to  emigra- 
tion by  giving  up  the  mild  system  hitherto  observed  toward  it.  He 
divided  the  emigrants  into  three  classes:  The  principal  leaders, 
and  at  their  head  the  brothers  of  the  king;  public  functionaries 
who  forsook  their  posts  and  country  and  sought  to  entice  their 
colleagues;  private  individuals,  who,  to  preserve  life  or  from  an 
aversion  to  the  revolution  or  from  other  motives,  left  their  native 
land    without   taking   arms    against    it.      He    required    that    severe 


158  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


laws  should  be  put  in  force  against  the  first  two  classes,  but 
thought  it  would  be  good  policy  to  be  indulgent  toward  the  last. 
With  respect  to  nonjuring  ecclesiastics  and  agitators,  some  of  the 
Girondists  proposed  to  confine  themselves  to  a  stricter  surveil- 
lance; others  thought  there  was  only  one  safe  line  of  conduct  to 
be  pursued  toward  them;  that  the  spirit  of  sedition  could  only 
be  quelled  by  banishing  them  from  the  country.  "  All  attempts  at 
conciliation,"  said  the  impetuous  Isnard,  "  will  henceforth  be  in 
vain.  What,  I  ask,  has  been  the  consequence  of  these  reiterated 
pardons?  Tiie  daring  of  your  foes  has  increased  with  your  in- 
dulgence; they  will  only  cease  to  injure  you  when  deprived  of  the 
means  of  doing  so.  They  must  be  conquerors  or  conquered.  On 
this  point  all  must  agree;  the  man  who  will  not  see  this  great  truth 
is,  in  my  opinion,  politically  blind." 

The  constitutionalists  were  opposed  to  all  these  measures; 
they  did  not  deny  the  danger,  but  they  considered  such  laws  arbi- 
trar\\  They  said  that  before  everything  it  was  necessary  to  respect 
the  constitution,  and  from  that  time  to  confine  themselves  to  precau- 
tionary measures;  that  it  was  sufficient  to  keep  on  the  defensive 
against  the  emigrants,  and  to  wait,  in  order  to  punish  the  dis- 
sentient priests,  till  they  discovered  actual  conspiracies  on  their 
part.  They  recommended  that  the  law  should  not  be  violated  even 
toward  enemies,  for  fear  that  once  engaging  in  such  a  course,  it 
should  be  impossible  to  arrest  that  course,  and  so  the  revolution  be 
lost,  like  the  ancient  regime,  through  its  injustice.  But  the  assem- 
bly, which  deemed  the  safety  of  the  state  more  important  than  the 
strict  observance  of  the  law%  which  saw  danger  in  hesitation,  and 
whicli,  moreover,  was  influenced  by  passions  whicli  lead  to  expedi- 
tious measures,  was  not  stopped  by  these  considerations.  With 
common  consent  it  again,  on  October  30,  passed  a  decree  relative 
to  the  eldest  brother  of  the  king,  Louis  Stanislas  Xavier.  This 
prince  was  required,  in  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  to  return  to 
France  in  tw(j  months,  or  at  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  would 
be  considered  to  have  forfeited  his  rights  as  regent.  But  agree- 
ment ceased  as  to  the  decrees  against  emigrants  and  priests.  On 
November  9  the  assembly  resolved  that  the  French  gathered  to- 
gether bey(Mid  tlie  frontiers  were  suspected  of  conspiracy  against 
their  country:  tliat  if  they  remained  assembled  on  January  i,  1792, 
they  would  he  treated  as  conspirators,  be  punishable  by  death,  and 
that  after  condemnation  to  death  for  contumacy,  the  proceeds  of 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  159 

1791 

their  estates  were  to  be  confiscated  to  the  nation,  always  without 
prejudice  to  the  rights  of  their  wives,  children,  and  lawful  creditors. 
On  the  29th  of  the  same  month  it  passed  a  similar  decree  respecting 
the  dissentient  priests.  They  were  obliged  to  take  the  civic  oath, 
under  pain  of  being  deprived  of  their  pensions  and  suspected  of 
revolt  against  the  law.  If  they  still  refused,  they  were  to  be  closely 
watched;  and  if  any  religious  disturbances  took  place  in  their 
parishes,  they  were  to  be  taken  to  the  chief  town  of  the  department, 
and  if  found  to  have  taken  any  part  in  exciting  disobedience,  they 
were  liable  to  imprisonment. 

The  king  sanctioned  the  first  decree  respecting  his  brother; 
he  put  his  veto  on  the  other  two.  A  short  time  before  he  had  dis- 
avowed emigration  by  public  measures,  and  he  had  written  to  the 
emigrant  princes  recalling  them  to  the  kingdom.  He  invited  them 
to  return  in  the  name  of  the  tranquillity  of  France,  and  of  the  at- 
tachment and  obedience  they  owed  to  him  as  their  brother  and  their 
king.  "  I  shall,"  said  he,  in  concluding  the  letter,  "  always  be 
grateful  to  you  for  saving  me  the  necessity  of  acting  in  opposition 
to  you,  through  the  invariable  resolution  I  have  made  to  maintain 
what  I  have  announced."  These  wise  invitations  had  led  to  no 
result:  but  Louis  XVL,  while  he  condemned  the  conduct  of  the 
emigrants,  would  not  give  his  consent  to  the  measures  taken 
against  them.  In  refusing  his  sanction  he  was  supported  by  the 
friends  of  the  constitution  and  the  directory  of  the  department. 
This  support  was  not  without  use  to  him,  at  a  time  when,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people,  he  appeared  to  be  an  accomplice  of  emigration, 
when  he  provoked  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Girondists,  and  sep- 
arated himself  from  the  assembly.  He  should  have  united  closely 
with  it,  since  he  invoked  the  constitution  against  the  emigrants  in 
his  letters,  and  against  the  revolutionists  by  the  exercise  of  his 
prerogative.  His  position  could  only  become  strong  by  sincerely 
falling  in  with  the  first  revolution,  and  making  his  own  cause  one 
with  that  of  the  bourgeoisie. 

But  the  court  was  not  so  resigned ;  it  still  expected  better 
times,  and  was  thus  prevented  from  pursuing  an  invariable  line  of 
conduct,  and  thus  induced  to  seek  grounds  for  hope  in  every  quarter.s 
Now  and  then  disposed  to  favor  the  intervention  of  foreign  pow- 
ers, it  continued  to  correspond  with  Europe;  it  intrigued  with  its 
ministers  against  the  popular  party,  and  made  use  of  the  Feuillants 
against  the  Girondists,  though  with  much  distrust.     At  this  period 


160  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


its  chief  resource  was  in  the  petty  schemes  of  Bertrand  de  Molle- 
ville,  who  (Hrected  the  council ;  who  had  estabhshed  a  Club  frangais, 
the  members  of  which  he  paid ;  who  purchased  the  applause  of  the 
tribunes  of  the  assembly,  hoping  by  this  imitation  of  the  revolu- 
tion to  conquer  the  true  revolution,  his  object  being  to  deceive 
parties  and  annul  the  effects  of  the  constitution  by  observing  it 
literally. 

By  this  line  of  conduct  the  court  had  even  the  imprudence  to 
weaken  the  constitutionalists,  whom  it  ought  to  have  reinforced; 
at  their  expense  it  favored  the  election  of  Petion  to  the  mayoralty. 
Through  tlie  disinterestedness  with  which  the  preceding  assembly 
had  been  seized,  all  who  had  held  popular  posts  under  it  suc- 
cessively gave  them  up.  On  October  i8  Lafayette  resigned  the 
command  of  the  national  guard,  and  Bailly  had  just  retired  from 
the  mayoralty.  The  constitutional  party  proposed  that  Lafayette 
should  replace  him  in  this  first  post  of  the  state,  which,  by  per- 
mitting or  restraining  insurrections,  delivered  Paris  into  the  power 
of  him  who  occupied  it.  Till  then  it  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the 
constitutionalists,  who  by  this  means  had  repressed  the  rising 
of  the  Champ  de  Mars.  They  had  lost  the  direction  of  the  assem- 
bly, the  command  of  the  national  guard ;  they  now  lost  the  corpora- 
tion. The  court  gave  to  Petion,  the  Girondist  candidate,  all  the 
votes  at  its  disposal.  "  M.  de  Lafayette,"  observed  the  queen  to 
Bertrand  de  Molleville,  "  only  wishes  to  be  mayor  of  Paris  in  order 
to  become  mayor  of  the  palace.  Petion  is  a  Jacobin,  a  republican, 
but  he  is  a  fool,  incapable  of  ever  leading  a  party."  On  November 
4  Petion  was  elected  mayor  by  a  majority  of  6708  votes  in  a  total 
of  10,632.  Only  one-eighth  of  those  enjoying  the  franchise  had 
gone  to  the  polls!  In  this  election  Alanuel  became  public  prose- 
cutor, Danton  assistant  prosecutor,  and  Santerre,  the  brewer  of  the 
Faubourg  Saint  Antoine,  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the 
national  guard. 

It  becomes  necessary,  at  this  place,  to  allude  to  an  extremely 
important  event  of  this  time — the  revolt  of  San  Domingo.  San 
Domingo  was  a  French  West  Indian  colony  which  had,  for  a  long 
time,  constituted  an  important  factor  in  tlie  economic  life  of  the 
kingdom.  The  value  of  its  imports  to  France  preceding  the  revo- 
lution liad  been  great.  On  May  15,  1791,  the  national  assembly 
abolished  slavery  on  all  French  soil,  and  conferred  equal  rights  of 
citizenship  upon  all.     This  legislation  was  of  a  piece  with  that  of 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  161 

1791 

August  4,  1789,  for  already  the  revolutionary  propaganda  had 
spread  to  the  French  colonies,  and  a  fierce  negro  insurrection  had 
taken  place  in  San  Domingo.  Too  late,  September  23,  the  assem- 
bly saw  its  folly  and  repealed  the  act,  substituting  the  right  of  self- 
rule  by  the  island  planters.  But  already  the  white  population  had 
revolted  from  France.  There  were  three  elements  in  San  Do- 
mingo: (i)  The  wealthy  whites,  who  discussed  questions  of  rep- 
resentation being  demanded  from  the  mother  country,  or  separation 
from  her;  (2)  the  15,000  free  mulattoes  who  deemed  themselves 
entitled  to  some  share  in  the  blessings  of  the  revolution;  (3)  even 
the  400,000  slaves  laid  claim  to  the  Rights  of  Man.  The  free 
colored  people  arose,  supported  by  the  slaves.  The  whole  island 
was  turned  into  a  field  of  fearful  carnage.  Only  in  the  city  the 
whites  had  some  chance  to  hold  their  own  sufficiently  at  least  to 
save  their  lives. 

The  effect  of  these  events  upon  the  mother  country  was  seri- 
ous. Bankruptcies  in  the  seaboard  cities  followed  one  another. 
Tropical  products  and  sugar  rose  to  unheard  of  prices.  Riots  grew 
frequent  after  December,  1791.  Organized  bands  captured  the 
grain  transports  destined  for  the  large  cities  and  fixed  the  prices 
of  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  legislative  assembly  did  nothing  but 
denounce  the  ministers.  It  paid  no  attention  to  what  the  minis- 
ters demanded  in  order  to  enable  them  in  the  remotest  degree  to  be 
a  government.^ 

The  Girondists  were  not  content  with  the  acquisition  of  the 
mayoralty.  France  could  not  remain  long  in  this  dangerous  and 
provisional  state.  The  decrees  which,  justly  or  otherwise,  were  to 
provide  for  the  defense  of  the  revolution,  and  which  had  been 
rejected  by  the  king,  were  not  replaced  by  any  government  meas- 
ure;  the  ministry  manifested  either  unwillingness  or  sheer  indiffer- 
ence. The  Girondists,  accordingly,  accused  Delessart,  the  minister 
for  foreign  affairs,  of  compromising  the  honor  and  safety  of  the 
nation  by  the  tone  of  his  negotiations  with  foreign  powers,  by  his 
procrastination  and  want  of  skill.  They  also  warmly  attacked 
Du  Portail,  minister  of  w^ar,  and  Bertrand  de  ]\Iolleville,  minister 
of  the  marine,  for  neglecting  to  put  the  coasts  and  frontiers  in  a 
state  of  defense.  The  conduct  of  the  Electors  of  Treves,  Mayence, 
and  of  the  Bishop  of  Spire,  who  favored  the  military  preparations 

^  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Von  Sybel,  "  History  of  tlie  French  Revolution," 
vol.  III.  ch,  i. 


162  THP:     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


of  the  emigrants,  more  especially  excited  the  national  indignation. 
The  diploniatic  committee  proposed  a  declaration  to  the  king,  that 
the  nation  would  view  with  satisfaction  a  requisition  by  him  to  the 
neighboring  princes  to  disperse  the  military  gatherings  within 
three  weeks,  and  his  assembling  the  forces  necessary  to  make  them 
respect  the  right  of  nations.  By  this  important  measure  they  also 
wished  to  make  Louis  XVL  enter  into  a  solemn  engagement  and 
signify  to  the  Diet  of  Ratisbon,  as  well  as  to  the  other  courts  of 
Europe,  the  firm  intentions  of  France. 

Isnard  ascended  the  tribune  to  support  this  proposition.  "  Let 
us."  said  he,  "  in  this  crisis  rise  to  the  full  elevation  of  our  mis- 
sion ;  let  us  speak  to  the  ministers,  to  the  king,  to  all  Europe,  with 
the  firmness  that  becomes  us.  Let  us  tell  our  ministers  that  hith- 
erto the  nation  is  not  well  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  any  of  them ; 
that  henceforth  they  will  have  no  choice  but  between  public  grati- 
tude and  the  vengeance  of  the  laws;  and  that  by  the  word 
responsil)iHty  we  understand  death.  Let  us  tell  the  king  that  it  is 
his  interest  to  defend  the  constitution ;  that  he  only  reigns  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people;  that  the  nation  is  his  sovereign,  and 
that  he  is  subject  to  the  law.  Let  us  tell  Europe  that  if  the  French 
people  once  draw  the  sword,  they  will  throw  away  the  scabbard, 
and  will  not  raise  it  again  till  it  may  be  crowned  with  the  laurels 
of  victory;  that  if  cabinets  engage  kings  in  a  war  against  the 
people,  we  will  engage  the  people  in  a  mortal  warfare  against 
kings.  Let  us  tell  them  that  all  the  fights  the  people  shall  fight  at 
the  order  of  despots  '' — here  he  was  interrupted  by  loud  applause 
— "  Do  not  applaud,"  he  cried — "  do  not  applaud ;  respect  my  en- 
thusiasm; it  is  that  of  liberty!  Let  us  say  to  Europe  that  all  the 
fights  which  the  people  shall  figlit  at  the  command  of  despots  re- 
semble the  blows  that  two  friends,  excited  by  a  perfidious  instiga- 
tor, inflict  on  each  other  in  darkness.  When  light  arrives  they 
throw  down  their  arms,  embrace,  and  chastise  their  deceiver.  So 
will  it  be  if,  when  foreign  armies  are  contending  with  ours,  the 
light  of  philosophy  shine  upon  them.  The  nations  w^ill  embrace 
in  the  presence  of  dethroned  tyrants — of  the  earth  consoled,  of 
Heaven  satisfied." 

The  assembly  unanimously^  and  with  transport,  passed  the 
propr)sc(l  measure,  and  (jn  November  29  sent  a  message  to  the 
king.  Vaiiblanc  was  tlie  leader  of  the  deputation.  "  Sire,"  said 
he  to  Louis  XVL,  "  the  national  assembly  had  scarcely  glanced  at 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  163 

1791 

the  state  of  the  nation  ere  it  saw  that  the  troubles  which  still  agitate 
it  arise  from  the  criminal  preparations  of  French  emigrants.  Their 
audacity  is  encouraged  by  German  princes,  who  trample  under 
foot  the  treaties  between  them  and  France,  and  affect  to  forget  that 
they  are  indebted  to  this  empire  for  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia,  which 
secured  their  rights  and  their  safety.  These  hostile  preparations, 
these  threats  of  invasion,  will  require  armaments  absorbing  im- 
mense sums,  which  the  nation  would  joyfully  pay  over  to  its  cred- 
itors. It  is  for  you,  sire,  to  make  them  desist;  it  is  for  you  to 
address  to  foreign  powers  the  language  befitting  the  king  of  the 
French.  Tell  them  that  wherever  preparations  are  permitted  to 
be  made  against  France,  there  France  recognizes  only  foes ;  that 
we  will  religiously  observe  our  oath  to  make  no  conquests ;  that  we 
offer  them  the  good  neighborship,  the  inviolable  friendship  of  a 
free  and  powerful  people ;  that  we  will  respect  their  laws,  their 
customs,  and  their  constitutions ;  but  that  we  will  have  our  own 
respected !  Tell  them  that  if  princes  of  Germany  continue  to 
favor  preparations  directed  against  the  French,  the  French  will 
carry  into  their  territories,  not  indeed  fire  and  sword,  but  liberty. 
It  is  for  them  to  calculate  the  consequences  of  this  rousing  up  of 
nations." 

Louis  XVI.  replied  that  he  would  give  the  fullest  considera- 
tion to  the  message  of  the  assembly;  and  in  a  few  days  he  came 
in  person  to  announce  his  resolutions  on  the  subject.  They  were 
comformable  with  the  general  wish.  The  king  said,  amid  ve- 
hement applause,  that  he  would  cause  it  to  be  declared  to  the 
Elector  of  Treves  and  the  other  electors  that,  unless  all  gatherings 
and  hostile  preparations  on  the  part  of  the  French  emigrants  in 
their  states  ceased  before  Januar)^  15.  he  should  consider  them  as 
enemies.  Fie  added  that  he  would  write  to  the  emperor  to  engage 
him,  as  chief  of  the  empire,  to  interpose  his  authority  for  the  pur- 
pose of  averting  tlie  calamities  wln'ch  the  lengthened  resistance  of 
a  few  members  of  the  Germanic  body  would  occasion,  "If  these 
declarations  are  not  heeded,  then,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  it  will  only 
remain  for  me  to  propose  war — war,  which  a  people  who  have 
solemnly  renounced  conquest,  never  declare  without  necessity,  but 
which  a  free  and  generous  nation  will  undertake  and  carry  on  when 
its  honor  and  safety  re{|uire  it." 

The  steps  taken  by  the  king  with  the  princes  of  the  empire 
were  supported  by  military  preparations.     On  December  6  a  new 


164.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1791 


minister  of  war  replaced  Du  Portail;  Narbonne,  taken  from  the 
Feuillants,  young,  active,  ambitious  of  distinguishing  himself  by  the 
triumph  of  his  party  and  the  defense  of  the  revolution,  repaired 
immediately  to  the  frontiers.  A  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men 
were  placed  in  requisition;  for  this  object  the  assembly  voted  an 
extraordinary  supply  of  twenty  millions  of  francs;  three  armies 
were  formed  under  the  command  of  Rochambeau,  Luckner,  and 
Lafayette  and  finally  a  decree  was  passed  impeaching  Monsieur,  the 
Count  d'Artois,  and  the  Prince  de  Conde  as  conspirators  against 
the  general  safety  of  the  state  and  of  the  constitution.  Their  prop- 
erty was  sequestrated,  and  the  period  previously  fixed  on  for 
Monsieur's  return  to  the  kingdom  having  expired,  he  was  deprived 
of  his  claim  to  the  regency. 

Most  of  this  demur  against  the  emperor  and  other  foreign 
princes  for  their  support  of  the  emigrants  was  mere  verbiage.  The 
Girondists  were  determined  to  have  war  and  had  fixed  upon  a  war 
policy,  because  their  efforts  to  overthrow  the  monarchy  by  previous 
means  had  failed.  They  had  endeavored — and  partially  succeeded 
— in  antagonizing  the  king  and  the  nation  by  their  drastic  legisla- 
tion against  the  king's  brothers,  and  the  nonjuring  priests.  Now 
they  advocated  war  as  a  last  resort.  They  argued,  in  event  of  a 
successful  war,  they  as  the  authors  of  it  could  dictate  their  ideas 
to  the  king  and  the  nation,  i.  e.,  a  republican  government;  on  the 
other  hand,  in  event  of  failure  in  war,  they  calculated  that  at  least 
such  an  event  would  overwhelm  the  monarchy,  and  then,  upon  its 
ruins,  they  would  hope  to  erect  a  republic.  Very  curiously,  the 
constitutionalists  were  also  in  favor  of  war.  They  counted  that 
successful  war  would  make  the  king  sufficiently  strong  to  enable 
him  to  recover  authority  as  the  executive;  while,  if  unsuccessful, 
the  patriotism  of  France  would  rally  around  the  king  and  endow 
liim  with  dictatorial  powers.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  two  par- 
ties hostile  to  one  another  both  wanted  war.  This  accounts  for 
Xarbunne's  presence  as  minister  of  war  in  the  cabinet. 

But  the  Girondists  were  also  influenced  by  other  motives. 
Their  financial  situation  involved  the  whole  policy  and  success  of 
the  party.  The  danger  of  emitting  the  assignats  had  now  become 
manifest.  All  tlie  evils  of  an  ill-regulated  paper  currency  were 
besetting  h>ancc.  The  first  emission  of  four  hundred  millions  had 
not  reduced  the  debt  at  all,  and  had  perceptibly  injured  the  credit 
of  the  government.     In  August,    1790,  the  public  debt  was  esti- 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  165 

1791 

mated  at  190,000,000  livres.  Nevertheless  an  additional  issue  of 
800,000,000  in  assignats  was  made  in  September,  an  action  which 
had  some  influence  upon  Necker's  resignation.  Now,  in  prospect 
of  war,  recourse  was  again  had  to  the  press  and  new  currency  was 
printed.  The  national  assembly,  for  current  expenses,  had  spent 
800,000,000.  Other  resources  than  the  paper-press  did  not  exist, 
so  it  was  resolved  on  December  17  to  issue  300,000,000  more,  and 
in  the  worst  possible  shape,  that  is,  in  notes  from  50  to  10  sou 
(about  one  dollar  to  20  cents).  The  aggregate  of  assignats  in 
December,  1791,  amounted  to  2,000,000,000. 

The  calculations  of  the  revolutionists  were  anything  but  dis- 
tinguished for  sobriety  and  exactness.  Narbonne  was  compelled 
to  ask  for  a  law  for  the  more  effective  levying  of  troops,  for  the 
actual  number  of  troops  fell  fully  50,000  short  of  the  number  on 
the  paper.  The  French  marine  was  more  an  object  of  contempt 
than  of  apprehension. 

Narbonne's  glowing  reports  had  been  composed  for  the  satis- 
faction of  the  galleries.  There  was  an  insufficient  number  of  men, 
and  especially  of  officers ;  in  ever-increasing  numbers  they  were 
leaving  the  country.  Four  weeks  of  campaign  soon  swallowed 
52,000,000.  Claviere  proposed  to  declare  France  bankrupt  in  order 
to  carry  on  the  war.  On  April  27  300,000,000  of  assignats  were 
issued.  On  May  15  it  was  resolved  to  stop  payment  of  all  debts 
which  amounted  to  more  than  10,000  livres    till  further  notice. 

Robespierre  was  the  only  notable  leader  opposed  to  the  idea 
of  war.  He  had  been  from  the  beginning  decidedly  against  war. 
"  This  war,"  he  said,  "  was  planned  by  the  court  and  all  the  ene- 
mies of  liberty  in  order  to  form  a  fit  instrument  for  a  counter- 
revolution and  an  army  hostile  to  the  people.  It  is  madness  to 
commence  war  against  the  audacious  despots  under  any  leader  like 
Lafayette,  the  traitor  and  venal  henchman  of  despotism,  against 
whom  the  cries  of  the  patriots  murdered  on  July  17  call  to 
Heaven."  He  could  keep  the  Jacobin  club  divided  on  the  war 
question,  but  he  could  not  prevail  upon  it  to  adopt  his  views. 
Brissot  carried  the  day.  but  at  the  expense  of  complete  rupture  with 
Robespierre.  Narbonne  and  the  Girondists  plotted  war  with  the 
view  of  getting  hold  of  the  reins  of  government.  With  him,  as 
with  hundreds  of  others,  personal  wishes  and  desires  were  the 
only  true  motixes  of  his  doings. 

On  the  contrary,  the  policy  of  the  powers  was    a    pacific  one. 


166  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

In  December,  1791,  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Bavaria  came  to  an 
agreement  that  the  force  of  amicable  argument  should  be  tried 
once  more.  But  the  Girondists  were  determined  to  have  a  war, 
because  they  were  tempted  by  bloody  laurels,  and  because  they 
hoped  a  war  would  help  them  out  of  many  of  the  dangers  with 
which  they  did  not  know  how  to  deal.  Brissot  delivered  a  speech 
at  the  Jacobins  which  left  no  doubt  as  to  who  it  was  who  really 
wanted  war.  He  said :  "  We  need  war  firmly  to  establish  liberty. 
We  need  war  to  cure  it  from  the  vices  of  despotism.  We  need 
war  to  rid  ourselves  of  the  men  who  could  destroy  it." 

The  assembly  determined  to  force  the  hand  of  the  emperor. 
It  looked  on  the  electors  as  merely  his  agents,  and  on  the  emigrants 
as  his  instruments;  for  the  Prince  von  Kaunitz  recognized  as 
legitimate  "  the  league  of  sovereigns  united  for  the  safety  and 
honor  of  crowns."  The  Girondists,  therefore,  wished  to  anticipate 
war,  in  order  not  to  give  Austria  time  for  more  mature  prepara- 
tions. They  required  from  the  emperor,  before  February  10,  a 
definite  and  precise  explanation  of  his  real  intentions  with  regard 
to  France.'*  They  at  the  same  time  proceeded  against  those  minis- 
ters on  whom  they  could  not  rely  in  the  event  of  war.  The  inca- 
pacity of  Delessart,  and  the  intrigues  of  Molleville  especially,  gave 
room  for  attack ;  Narbonne  was  alone  spared. 

What  "  gave  room  for  attack  "  still  more  was  the  attitude  of 
England.  Late  in  January,  1791,  Talleyrand  had  been  sent  to 
England,  authorized  to  propose  the  cession  of  the  island  of  France 
and  Bourbon,  and  the  island  of  Tobago,  as  the  price  of  an  alliance 
against  the  emperor.     Brissot  de  Warville  even  went  so  far  as  to 

"*  Mignct  has  omitted  certain  important  details  concerning  Leopold's  conduct 
at  tliis  time.    I  quote  from  Fyffe,  "  History  of  Modern  Europe,"  vol.  I.  pp.  lO-li : 

"  On  January  i6,  1792,  Louis  informed  the  assembly  that  the  emigrants  had 
been  expelled  from  the  electorate  and  acknowledged  the  good  offices  of  Leopold 
in  effecting  this  result.  The  substantial  cause  of  war  seemed  to  have  disap- 
peared; but  another  had  risen  in  its  place.  In  a  note  of  December  21  the  Aus- 
trian minister  Kavuiitz  used  expressions  which  implied  that  a  league  of  the 
powers  was  still  in  existence  against  France.  Nothing  could  have  come  more 
ofjporttmely  for  the  war  party  in  the  assembly.  Brissot  cried  for  an  immediate 
declaration  of  war,  and  appealed  to  the  French  nation  to  vindicate  its  honor  by 
an  attack  both  upon  the  emigrants  and  upon  their  imperial  protector.  The  issue 
depended  upon  the  relative  power  of  the  crown  and  the  opposition. .  Leopold 
saw  that  war  was  inevitable  unless  the  constitutional  party,  which  was  still  in 
ffTire.  rallied  for  one  last  effort  and  gained  a  decisive  victory  over  its  antagonists. 
In  the  hope  of  turning  [)iililic  opinion  against  the  Gironde,  he  permitted  Kaunitz 
to  M.iul  a  flispatch  to  Paris  which  loaded  the  leaders  of  the  war  party  with  abuse 
and   e.Khortcd   the   French  nation   to  deliver   itself   from  men   who  would   bring 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  167 

1791 

propose  the  retrocession  of  Calais  and  Dunkirk.  Further,  Talley- 
rand offered  to  destroy  the  fortifications  of  Cherbourg,  over 
against  Portsmouth,  and  an  extension  of  commercial  advantages. 
When  England  refused  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  France,  Tal- 
leyrand asked  Pitt  for  a  promise  of  English  neutrality.  This  he 
got,  but  events  soon  put  an  end  to  this  attitude  on  the  part  of 
England. 

When  the  Girondists  heard  that  England  was  determined  to 
remain  neutral  they  pressed  with  more  energy  to  war.  Narbonne, 
the  minister  of  war,  being  eager  for  war,  Delessart  and  the 
Feuillants  thought  that  by  crowding  him  out  of  the  cabinet  it 
would  still  be  possible  to  obviate  war.  Not  to  provoke  public 
opinion,  the  stanch  royalist,  Bertrand  de  Molleville,  should  go  at 
the  same  time.  Rochambeau,  Luckner,  and  Lafayette  wrote  let- 
ters from  the  frontier  in  which  they  declared  the  dismissal  a  public 
calamity,  and  these  letters  were  published  in  the  papers.  Mean- 
while the  emperor  had  officially  announced  his  determination  not 
to  go  to  war  unless  he  was  absolutely  left  to  no  choice.  He  in- 
formed the  Elector  of  Treves  that  the  emigrant  corps  must  be 
dissolved  at  once,  and  the  elector  obeyed  the  imperial  orders. 

On  February  ly  the  emperor  replied  to  the  decree  of  the  as- 
sembly. He  mentioned  how  he  had  enforced  the  dissolution  of  the 
emigrant  corps,  and  that  he  honestly  desired  peace.  He  said 
the  European  coalition  had  but  a  conditional  existence  since  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution  by  the  king,  but  that  it  would  not  be 
dropped  while  the  king  was  endangered  by  republican  faction.  But 
Leopold  did  not  live  to  see  one  of  the  greatest  wars  in  history 
actually  declared.  On  ]\Iarch  9  the  news  was  received  that 
Leopold  had  died.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Francis  H.,  great 
in   nothing  but  his   absolutistic   obtuseness   and   his   crusade   zeal 

upon  it  the  hostility  of  Europe  (February  17).  The  dispatch  gave  singular  proof 
of  the  inability  of  the  cleverest  sovereign  and  the  most  experienced  minister  of 
the  age  to  distinguish  between  the  fears  of  a  timid  cabinet  and  the  impulses  of  an 
excited  nation.  Leopold's  vituperations  might  have  had  the  intended  effect  if 
they  had  been  addressed  to  the  Margrave  of  Baden  or  the  Doge  of  Venice ; 
addressed  to  the  French  nation  and  its  popular  assembly  in  the  height  of  civil 
conflict,  they  were  as  oil  poured  upon  the  flames.  Leopold  ruined  the  party 
which  he  meant  to  reinforce  ;  he  threw  the  nation  into  the  arms  of  those  whom 
he  attacked.  His  dispatch  was  received  in  the  assembly  with  alternate  murmurs 
and  bursts  of  laughter;  in  the  clubs  it  excited  a  wild  outburst  of  rage.  The 
exchange  of  diplomatic  notes  continued  for  a  few  weeks  more;  but  the  real 
answer  of  France  to  Austria  was  the  '  Marseillaise,'  composed  at  Strasburg 
almost  simultaneously  with  Kaunitz's  attack  upon  the  Jacobins." 


168  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


against  the  revolution.  Leopold,  had  he  remained  living,  could  not 
have  avoided  war,  but  the  character  of  the  war  would  have  been 
somewhat  different.  The  first  impression  produced  in  Paris  by  his 
death  was  that  the  preservation  of  peace  had  been  secured,  so  com- 
pletely had  the  Girondists  pulled  the  wool  over  the  eyes  of  the 
people. 

In  truth  Leopold's  death  had  broken  down  the  last  bar- 
rier. The  war  party  was  aided  by  the  divisions  of  the  council, 
which  was  partly  aristocratic  in  Bertrand  de  Molleville,  Delessart, 
and  others,  and  partly  constitutional,  in  Narbonne  and  Cahier  de 
Gerville,  minister  of  the  interior.  Men  so  opposed  in  character  and 
intentions  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  agree;  Bertrand  de  Molle- 
ville had  warm  contests  with  Narbonne,  who  wished  his  colleagues 
to  adopt  a  frank,  decided  line  of  conduct,  and  to  make  the  assembly 
the  fulcrum  of  the  throne.  Narbonne  succumbed  in  this  struggle, 
and  his  dismissal  involved  the  disorganization  of  the  ministry.  The 
Girondists  threw  the  blame  upon  Bertrand  de  Molleville  and 
Delessart;  the  former  had  the  address  to  exonerate  himself,  but 
the  latter  was  brought  before  the  high  court  of  Orleans.  Brissot 
made  a  furious  attack  upon  Delessart,  on  the  strength  of  the  cor- 
respondence with  Austria,  which  the  assembly  had  received  with 
applause.  Brissot  now  demanded  the  minister  to  be  impeached  for 
high  treason.  Violent  denunciation  made  up  for  his  utter  lack  of 
proof,  and  Delessart  was  thrown  into  prison. 

As  Lafayette  had  some  share  in  the  overthrow  of  the  old 
cabinet,  so  now  he  had  sufficient  influence  in  the  formation  of  the 
new  to  prevent  its  being  exclusively  Girondist. 

The  minister  of  war,  Du  Grave,  had  been  brought  into  the 
cabinet  by  Delessart ;  still  his  relation  to  Petion  and  Gensonne  con- 
nected him  with  the  Girondists.  Claviere,  the  minister  of  finance, 
and  Duranthon,  the  minister  of  justice,  were  considered  Giron- 
dists.^ 

1  he  king,  intimidated  by  the  assaults  of  the  assembly  upon  the 
members  of  his  council,  and  more  especially  by  the  impeachment  of 
Delessart.  had  no  resource  but  to  select  his  new  ministers  from 
among  the  victorious  party.  An  alliance  with  the  actual  rulers  of 
tlie  revolution  crmld  alone  save  liberty  and  the  tlirone,  by  restor- 
ing concord  between  the  assembly,  the  supreme  authority,  and 
the  municipality;  and  if  this  union  had  been  maintained,  the 
t^  Sec  Von  Sylxl,  "IJistory  of  the  French  Revohition,"  vol.  I.  433-435. 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  169 

1792 

Girondists  would  have  effected  with  the  court  that  which,  after  the 
rupture  itself,  they  considered  they  could  only  effect  without  it. 
The  members  of  the  new  ministry  were:  Minister  of  the  marine, 
Lacoste;  of  finance,  Claviere;  of  justice,  Duranthon;  of  war,  Du 
Grave,  soon  afterward  replaced  by  Servan ;  of  foreign  affairs, 
Dumouriez ;  of  the  interior,  Roland.  The  two  latter  were  the  most 
important  and  most  remarkable  men  in  the  cabinet. 

Dumouriez  was  forty-seven  years  of  age  when  the  revolution 
began ;  he  had  lived  till  then  immersed  in  intrigue,  and  he  retained 
his  old  habits  too  closely  at  an  epoch  when  he  should  have  employed 
small  means  only  to  aid  great  ones,  instead  of  supplying  their 
place.  The  first  part  of  his  political  life  was  spent  in  seeking  those 
by  whom  he  might  rise :  the  second,  those  by  whom  he  might 
maintain  his  position.  A  courtier  up  to  1789,  a  constitutionalist 
under  the  first  assembly,  a  Girondist  under  the  second,  a  Jacobin 
under  the  republic,  he  was  eminently  a  man  of  circumstances.  But 
he  had  all  the  resources  of  great  men :  an  enterprising  character, 
indefatigable  activity,  a  ready,  sure,  and  extensive  perception,  im- 
petuosity of  action,  and  an  extraordinary  confidence  of  success;  he 
was,  moreover,  open,  easy,  witty,  daring;  adapted  alike  for  arms 
and  for  factions,  full  of  expedients,  wonderfully  ready,  and,  in 
difficult  positions,  versed  in  the  art  of  stooping  to  conquer.  It  is 
true  that  his  great  qualities  were  weakened  by  defects ;  he  was 
rash,  flighty,  full  of  inconsistency  of  thought  and  action,  owing 
to  his  continual  thirst  for  movement  and  machination.  But  his 
great  defect  was  the  total  absence  of  a  political  conviction.  In 
times  of  revolution  nothing  can  be  done  for  liberty  or  power  by 
him  who  is  not  decidedly  of  one  party  or  another,  and  when  he  is 
ambitious,  unless  he  see  further  than  the  immediate  objects  of  that 
party,  and  have  a  stronger  will  than  his  colleagues.  This  it  was 
made  Cromwell ;  this  it  was  made  Bonaparte ;  while  Dumouriez,  the 
employed  of  all  parties,  thought  he  could  get  the  better  of  them 
all  by  intriguing.  He  wanted  the  passion  of  his  time:  that  which 
completes  a  man    and  alone  enables  him  to  sway. 

Roland  was  the  opposite  of  Dumouriez ;  he  had  simple  man- 
ners, austere  morals,  tried  opinions;  enthusiastically  attached  to  lil> 
erty,  he  was  capal)le  of  disinterestedly  devoting  to  her  cause  his 
whole  life,  or  of  perishing  for  her,  without  ostentation  and  without 
regret.  A  man  worthy  of  being  born  in  a  republic,  but  out  of  place 
in  a  revolution,  and  ill  adapted  for  the  agitation  and  struggle  of 


170  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


parties ;  his  talents  were  not  superior,  his  temper  somewhat  uncom- 
pHant;  his  poHtical  sagacity  was  confined  to  the  maxim  that  to 
secure  increased  Hberty  the  power  of  the  crown  must  be  absolutely 
paralyzed.  He  had  no  sense  of  official  decorum,  and  was  never 
anything  more  tlian  the  minister  of  his  faction.  He  had  formerly 
been  an  official  of  the  treasury  department.  He  was  unskilled  in 
the  knowledge  and  management  of  men;  and  though  laborious, 
well  informed,  and  active,  he  would  have  produced  little  effect  but 
for  his  wife.  Madame  Roland  attracted  men  not  by  her  youth  or 
beauty,  but  by  her  intellect  and  the  restless  urgency  of  her  political 
ambition.  All  he  wanted  she  had  for  him ;  force,  ability,  elevation, 
foresight.  Madame  Roland  was  the  soul  of  the  Gironde;  it  was 
at  her  house  that  those  brilliant  and  courageous  men  assembled  to 
discuss  tlie  necessities  and  dangers  of  their  country;  it  was  she  who 
stimulated  to  action  those  who  she  saw  were  qualified  for  action, 
and  who  encouraged  to  the  tribune  those  whom  she  knew  to  be 
eloquent.*' 

The  court  named  this  ministry,  which  was  appointed  during 
the  month  of  March,  Le  jMinistere  Sans-Culotte.  The  first  time 
Roland  appeared  at  the  chateau  with  strings  in  his  shoes  and  a 
round  hat,  contrary  to  etiquette,  the  master  of  the  ceremonies  re- 
fused to  admit  him.  Obliged,  however,  to  give  way,  he  said 
despairingly  to  Dumouriez,  pointing  to  Roland;  "Ah,  sir — no 
buckles  in  his  shoes."  "  Ah,  sir,  all  is  lost,"  replied  Dumouriez, 
with  an  air  of  the  most  sympathizing  gravity.  Such  were  the  trifles 
which  still  occupied  the  attention  of  the  court.  The  first  step  of 
the  new  ministry  was  war.  The  position  of  France  was  becoming 
more  and  more  dangerous ;  everything  was  to  be  feared  from  the 
enmity  of  Europe.  Leopold  was  dead,  and  this  event  w^as  calcu- 
lated to  accelerate  the  decision  of  the  cabinet  of  Vienna.  His 
young  successor,  Francis  H.,  was  likely  to  be  less  pacific  or  less 
I)ru(lent  than  he.  Moreover.  Austria  was  assembling  its  troops, 
forming  camps,  and  appointing  generals;  it  had  violated  the  terri- 
tory of  Bale,  and  placed  a  garrison  in  Porentrury,  to  secure  for 
itself  the  entry  of  the  department  of  Doubs.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  as  to  its  projects.     The  gatherings  at  Coblentz  had  recom- 

"Tlie  reader  is  referred  to  the  following  upon  Madame  Roland:  Stephens, 
vr.l.  If.  pp.  r.q-iT);  Vf.n  Syhel,  vol.  T.  p.  378:  St.  Beaiive,  "Portraits  of  Celebrated 
\Vr,iiu-n";  Danhriiii,  "Etude  snr  Madame  Roland";  Yonge,  "Life,"  etc.;  Ida  M. 
I  arbell,  "  Madame  Iv,land." 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  171 

1792 

menced  to  a  greater  extent  than  before ;  the  cabinet  of  Vienna  had 
only  temporarily  dispersed  the  emigrants  assembled  in  the  Belgian 
provinces,  in  order  to  prevent  the  invasion  of  that  country  at  a 
time  when  it  was  not  yet  ready  to  repel  invasion ;  it  had,  however, 
merely  sought  to  save  appearances,  and  had  allowed  a  staff  of  gen- 
eral officers,  in  full  uniform  and  with  the  white  cockade,  to  re- 
main at  Brussels.  Finally,  the  renly  of  the  Prince  von  Kaunitz 
to  the  required  explanations  was  by  no  means  satisfactory.  He 
even  refused  to  negotiate  directly,  and  the  Baron  von  Cobentzel 
was  commissioned  to  reply  that  Austria  would  not  depart  from  the 
required  conditions  already  set  forth.  The  reestablishment  of  the 
monarchy  on  the  basis  of  the  royal  sittings  of  the  23d  of  June ;  the 
restitution  of  its  property  to  the  clergy;  of  the  territory  of  Alsace, 
with  all  their  rights,  to  the  German  princes ;  of  Avignon  and  the 
Venaissin  to  the  Pope;  such  was  the  ultimatum  of  Austria.  All 
accord  was  now  impossible ;  peace  could  no  longer  be  maintained. 
France  was  threatened  with  the  fate  which  Holland  had  just  ex- 
perienced, and  perhaps  with  that  of  Poland.  The  sole  question 
now  was  whether  to  wait  for  or  to  initiate  war,  whether  to  profit 
by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  or  to  allow  that  enthusiasm  to  cool. 
The  true  author  of  war  is  not  he  who  declares  it,  but  he  who 
renders  it  necessary. 

In  justice  to  Austria  it  should  be  stated,  however,  that  these 
terms  w^ere  required  only  after  Dumouriez,  in  imperative  and  cate- 
gorical terms,  had  demanded  that  Austria  should  both  dissolve  the 
alliance  with  Prussia  and  disarm.  Count  Cobentzel's  demand  was 
a  counter-demand.  The  Girondists  seem  to  have  made  a  demand 
impossible  to  comply  with,  in  order  that  war  might  be  inevitable, 
but  at  the  same  time  that  they  might  escape  criticism  for  having 
provoked  it.     Was  the  war  thus  begun  offensive  or  defensive  ?  ^ 

On  April  20,  1792,  Louis  XVI.  went  to  the  assembly,  attended 
by  all  his  ministers.  "  I  come,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  to  the  national 
assembly  for  one  of  the  most  important  objects  that  can  occupy 
the  representatives  of  the  nation.  ]\Iy  minister  for  foreign  affairs 
will  read  to  you  the  report  drawn  up  in  our  council,  as  to  our 
political    situation."      Dumouriez    then    rose.     He    set    forth    the 

"Upon  the  grounds  of  war,  see  Von  Syhel,  '"'History  of  the  French  Revo- 
hition,  vol.  I.  pp.  381-394;  FytTc,  "  iNIodern  F.urope,"  vol.  I.  pp.  11-13;  Stephens, 
"  Frcncli  Revolution."  \ol.  II.  pp.  66-78;  Thiers,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  I. 
pp.  236-239;  Talleyrand,  '"Memoirs,"  vol.  T.  pp.  166-167.  Upon  the  condition  of 
Europe  at  this  time,  see  Fyffe,  "  Modern  Europe,"  vol.  L  pp.   14-40. 


172  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

grounds  of  complaint  that  France  had  against  the  house  of 
Austria;  the  object  of  the  conferences  of  Mantua,  Reichenbach, 
and  Pilnitz ;  the  coahtion  it  had  formed  against  the  French  Revolu- 
tion; its  armaments  becoming  more  and  more  considerable;  the 
open  protection  it  afforded  to  bodies  of  emigrants;  the  imperious 
tone  and  the  undisguised  procrastination  of  its  negotiations;  lastly, 
the  intolerable  conditions  of  its  ultimatum ;  and  after  a  long  series 
of  considerations  founded  on  the  hostile  conduct  of  the  King  of 
Hungary  and  Bohemia  (Francis  H.  was  not  yet  elected  emperor)  ; 
on  the  urgent  circumstances  of  the  nation ;  on  its  formally  declared 
resolution  to  endure  no  insult,  no  encroachment  on  its  rights;  on 
the  honor  and  good  faith  of  Louis  XVI.,  the  depositary  of  the 
dignity  and  safety  of  France,  he  demanded  war  against  Austria. 
Lous  XVI.  then  said,  in  a  voice  slightly  tremulous :  "  You  have 
heard,  gentlemen,  the  result  of  my  negotiations  with  the  court  of 
Vienna.  The  conclusions  of  the  report  are  based  upon  the  unan- 
imous opinion  of  my  council ;  I  have  myself  adopted  them.  They 
are  conformable  with  the  wishes  often  expressed  to  me  by  the 
national  assembly,  and  with  the  sentiments  frequently  testified  by 
bodies  of  citizens  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom;  all  prefer  war 
to  witnessing  the  continuance  of  insult  to  the  French  people,  and 
danger  threatening  the  national  existence.  It  was  my  duty  first 
to  try  every  means  of  maintaining  peace.  Having  failed  in  these 
efforts,  I  now  come,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  to 
propose  to  the  national  assembly  war  against  the  King  of  Hungary 
and  Bohemia."  The  king's  address  was  received  with  some  ap- 
plause, but  the  solemnity  of  the  circumstances  and  the  grandeur  of 
the  decision  filled  every  bosom  with  silent  and  concentrated  emo- 
tion. As  soon  as  the  king  had  withdrawn  the  assembly  voted  an 
extraordinary  sitting  for  the  evening.  In  that  sitting  war  was 
almost  unanimously  decided  upon.  Thus  was  undertaken,  against 
the  chief  of  the  confederate  powers,  that  war  which  was  protracted 
throughout  a  quarter  of  a  century,  which  victoriously  established 
the  revolution,  and  which  changed  the  whole  face  of  Europe. 

All  France  received  the  announcement  with  joy.  War  gave  a 
new  movement  to  the  people  already  so  excited.  Districts,  munic- 
ipalities, and  popular  societies  wrote  addresses:  men  were  enrolled 
voluntary  gifts  offered,  pikes  forged,  and  the  nation  seemed  to 
rise  up  to  await  Europe,  or  to  attack  it.  Rut  enthusiasm,  wliich 
ensures  victory  in  the  end,  does  not  at  first  supply  the  place  of 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  173 

1792 

organization.  Accordingly,  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign  the 
regular  troops  were  all  that  could  be  relied  upon  until  the  new 
levies  were  trained.  This  was  the  state  of  the  forces.  The  vast 
frontier  from  Dunkirk  to  Huninguen  was  divided  into  three  great 
military  districts.  On  the  left  from  Dunkirk  to  Philippeville,  the 
army  of  the  north  was  under  the  orders  of  Marshal  de  Rocham- 
beau.  Lafayette  commanded  the  army  of  the  center,  occupying  the 
district  between  Philippeville  and  the  lines  of  Weissenburg.  Lastly, 
the  army  of  the  Rhine,  extending  from  the  lines  of  Weissenburg  to 
Bale,  was  under  the  command  of  Marshal  Luckner.  The  frontier 
of  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees  was  confided  to  General  Montesquiou, 
whose  army  was  inconsiderable;  but  that  part  of  France  was  not 
as  yet  in  danger. 

The  Marshal  de  Rochambeau  was  of  opinion  that  it  would  be 
prudent  to  remain  on  the  defensive  and  simply  to  guard  the  fron- 
tiers. Dumouriez,  on  the  contrary,  wished  to  take  the  initiative 
in  action,  as  they  had  done  in  declaring  war,  so  as  to  profit  by  the 
advantage  of  being  first  prepared.  He  was  very  enterprising,  and 
as,  although  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  he  directed  the  military 
operations,  his  plan  was  adopted.  It  consisted  of  a  rapid  invasion 
of  Belgium.  This  province  had,  in  1790,  essayed  to  throw  off  the 
Austrian  yoke,  but,  after  a  brief  victory,  was  subdued  by  superior 
force.  Dumouriez  imagined  that  the  Brabant  patriots  would 
favor  the  attack  of  the  French  as  a  means  of  freedom  for  them- 
selves. With  this  view,  he  combined  a  triple  invasion.  The  two 
generals,  Theobald  Dillon  and  Biron,  who  commanded  in  Flanders 
under  Rochambeau,  received  orders  to  advance,  the  one  with  4000 
men  from  Lille  upon  Tournai,  the  other  with  10,000  from 
Valenciennes  upon  Mons.  At  the  same  time  Lafayette  with  a 
part  of  his  army  quitted  i\Ietz  and  advanced  by  forced  marches 
upon  Namur,  by  Stenai,  Sedan.  Mezieres,  and  Givet.  But  this 
plan  implied  in  the  soldiers  a  discipline  which  they  had  not  of 
course  as  yet  acquired,  and  on  the  part  of  the  chiefs  a  concert  very 
difficult  to  obtain ;  besides,  the  invading  columns  were  not  strong 
enough  for  sucli  an  enterprise.  Theobald  Dillon  had  scarcely 
passed  the  frontier  when,  on  meeting  the  first  enemy  on  April  28, 
a  panic  terror  seized  upon  the  troops.  The  cry  of  saiizr  qui  pent 
ran  througli  the  ranks,  and  the  general  was  carried  off  and  massa- 
cred by  his  troops.  Aluch  the  same  thing  took  place,  under  the 
same  circumstances,   in  the  corps  of   Biron,   who  was  obliged  to 


174  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


retreat  in  disorder  to  his  previous  position.  The  sudden  and  con- 
current flii^ht  of  these  two  columns  must  be  attributed  either  to  fear 
of  the  enemy,  on  the  part  of  troops  who  had  never  before  stood 
fire,  or  to  a  distrust  of  their  leaders,  or  to  traitors  who  sounded  the 
alarm  of  treachery. 

Lafayette,  on  arriving  at  Bouvines,  after  traveling  fifty 
leagues  of  bad  roads  in  two  or  three  days,  learned  the  disasters  of 
Valenciennes  and  Lille;  he  at  once  saw  that  the  object  of  the  in- 
vasion had  failed ;  and  he  justly  thought  that  the  best  course  would 
be  to  effect  a  retreat.  Rochambeau  complained  of  the  precipitate 
and  incongruous  nature  of  the  measures  which  had  been  in  the 
most  absolute  manner  prescribed  to  him.  As  he  did  not  choose  to 
remain  a  passive  machine,  obliged  to  fill,  at  the  will  of  the  minis- 
ters, a  post  of  which  he  himself  ought  to  have  the  full  direction, 
he  resigned.  From  that  moment  the  French  army  resumed  the 
defensive.  The  frontier  was  divided  into  two  general  commands 
only,  the  one  intrusted  to  Lafayette,  extending  from  the  sea  to 
Longwy,  and  the  other,  from  the  Moselle  to  the  Jura,  being  con- 
fided to  Luckner.  Lafayette  placed  his  left  under  the  command  of 
Arthur  Dillon,  and  with  his  right  reached  to  Luckner,  who  had 
Dillon  as  his  lieutenant  on  the  Rhine.  In  this  position  they 
awaited  the  allies. 

Meantime  the  first  checks  increased  the  disunion  of  the 
Feuillants  and  the  Girondists.  The  generals  ascribed  to  them  the 
plans  of  Dumouriez,  the  ministry  attributed  them  to  the  manner 
in  which  its  plans  had  been  executed,  or  rather,  not  executed,  by 
the  generals,  who,  having  been  appointed  by  Narbonne.  were  of 
the  constitutional  party.  The  Jacobins,  on  the  other  hand,  accused 
the  anti-revolutionists  of  having  occasioned  the  flight  by  the  cry 
of  sauvc  qui  pent!  Their  joy,  which  they  did  not  conceal,  the 
declared  hope  of  soon  seeing  the  confederates  in  Paris,  the  emi- 
grants returned,  and  the  ancient  regime  restored,  confirmed  these 
suspicions.  It  was  thought  that  the  court,  which  had  increased  the 
household  troops  from  1800  to  6000  men,  and  these  carefully 
selected  anti-revolutionists,  acted  in  concert  with  the  coalition. 
The  public  denounced,  under  the  name  of  Comite  Autrichien,  a 
secret  committee,  the  very  existence  of  which  could  not  be  proved, 
and  mistrust  was  at  its  height. 

The  a?seml)ly  at  once  took  decided  measures.  It  had  entered 
upon  the  career  of  war,  and  it  was  thenceforth  condemned  to  regu- 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLE?  175 

1792 

late  its  conduct  far  more  with  reference  to  the  pubhc  safety  than 
with  regard  to  the  mere  justice  of  the  case.  It  resolved  upon  sit- 
ting permanently,  although  it  was  shallow  pretension  for  the 
Girondists  to  assert  that  a  permanent  sitting  was  made  necessary 
by  reason  of  the  war.  The  Girondists'  principal  purpose  w^as  to 
break  down  the  power  of  the  king,  which  they  hoped  to  do  in  this 
way.  They  actually  established  a  republican  newspaper  with  the 
government  money.  The  assembly  discharged  the  household 
troops ;  on  account  of  the  increase  of  religious  disturbances  it  passed 
a  decree  exiling  refractory  priests,  so  that  it  might  not  have  at  the 
same  time  to  combat  a  coalition  and  to  appease  revolts.  It  also 
sought  to  excite  the  public  mind  by  revolutionary  fetes,  and  began 
to  enroll  the  multitude  and  arm  them  with  pikes,  conceiving  that  no 
assistance  could  be  superfluous  in  such  a  moment  of  peril. 

The  establishment  of  the  camp  of  the  federates  was  another 
scheme  of  the  Girondists  to  overcome  the  monarchy.  The  minister 
moved  on  June  4  that  every  canton  should  be  ordered  to  send  five 
men  to  the  anniversary  of  the  Bastile.  After  the  festival  these 
20,000  men  were  to  be  encamped  near  Paris  and  be  given  the  artil- 
lery of  the  national  guard.  Thus  the  feet  of  the  national  guard 
were  to  be  chained  and  the  Gironde  proposed  getting  an  army  of 
its  own.  In  vain  petitions  were  sent  to  the  assembly  to  pray  it 
to  desist  from  the  formation  of  the  camp  of  the  federates. 
Lafayette  now  again  formed  the  Feuillants,  and  Dumouriez  de- 
termined to  break  with  the  Gironde.  Dumouriez  read  a  long 
memoir  concerning  the  pitiable  condition  of  the  army,  and  laid  the 
blame  upon  the  Girondist  ministers,  Du  Grave  and  Servan.  The 
king  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  confinn  this  indictment,  and 
Dumouriez  resigned. 

All  these  measures  were  not  carried  without  opposition  from 
the  constitutionalists.  They  opposed  the  establishment  of  the 
camp  of  20,000  men,  which  they  regarded  as  the  army  of  a  party 
directed  against  the  national  guard  and  the  throne.  The  staff  of 
the  latter  protested,  and  the  recomposition  of  this  body  was  imme- 
diately effected  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  the  dominant  party. 
Companies  armed  with  pikes  were  introduced  into  the  new  national 
guard.  The  constitutionalists  were  still  more  dissatisfied  with  this 
measure,  wliich  introduced  a  lower  class  into  their  ranks,  and 
which  seemed  to  them  to  aim  at  superseding  the  bourgeoisie  by 
the  populace.      Finally,  they  openly  condemned  the  banishment  of 


176  THE     FRI^NCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

the  priests,  which  in  their  opinion  was  nothing  less  than  pro- 
scription. 

Louis  XVL  had  for  some  time  past  manifested  a  coolness 
toward  his  ministers,  who  on  their  part  had  been  more  exacting  with 
him.  They  urged  him  to  admit  about  him  priests  who  had  taken 
the  oath,  in  order  to  set  an  example  in  favor  of  the  constitutional 
religion,  and  to  remove  pretexts  for  religious  agitation;  he  steadily 
refused  this,  determined  as  he  was  to  make  no  further  religious 
concession.  These  last  decrees  had  put  an  end  to  his  concord  with 
the  Gironde;  for  several  days  he  did  not  mention  the  subject,  much 
less  make  known  his  intentions  respecting  it.  It  was  on  this  occasion 
that  Roland  addressed  to  him  his  celebrated  letter  on  his  consti- 
tutional duties,  and  entreated  him  to  calm  the  public  mind  and  to 
establish  his  authority,  by  becoming  frankly  the  king  of  the  revolu- 
tion. 

This  letter  still  more  highly  irritated  Louis  XVI.,  already 
disposed  to  break  with  the  Girondists.  He  was  supported  in  this 
by  Dumouriez,  who,  forsaking  his  party,  had  formed,  w-ith  Du- 
ranthon  and  Lacoste,  a  division  in  the  ministry  against  Roland, 
Servan,  and  Claviere.  But,  able  as  well  as  ambitious,  Dumouriez 
advised  Louis,  while  dismissing  the  ministers  of  W'hom  he  had  to 
complain,  to  sanction  their  decrees,  in  order  to  make  himself  popu- 
lar. He  described  that  against  the  priests  as  a  precaution  in  their 
favor,  exile  probably  removing  them  from  a  proscription  still  more 
fatal ;  he  undertook  to  prevent  any  revolutionary  consequences 
from  the  camp  of  20,000  men  by  marching  off  each  battalion  to  the 
army  immediately  upon  its  arrival  at  the  camp.  On  these  condi- 
tions Dumouriez  took  upon  himself  the  post  of  minister  of  w-ar 
and  sustained  the  attacks  of  his  own  party.  The  king  dismissed 
his  ministers  on  June  13,  and,  acting  wholly  within  his  prerogative, 
rejected  the  decrees  on  the  29th,  and  Dumouriez  set  out  for  the 
army,  after  having  rendered  himself  an  object  of  suspicion.  The 
assembly  declared  tliat  Roland.  Servan,  and  Claviere  carried  with 
them  the  regrets  of  the  nation. 

The  king  selected  his  new  ministers  from  among  the  Feuil- 
Irmts.  Scii)io  Chambonnas  was  appointed  minister  of  foreign 
affairs;  Terrier  Monteil,  of  the  interior;  Beaulieu,  of  finance; 
L<'tjarrc,  of  war;  Lacoste  and  Duranthon  remained  provisionally 
ministers  of  justice  and  of  the  marine.  All  these  men  were  with- 
out reputation  or  credit,  and  their  party  itself  was  approaching  the 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  177 

1792 

term  of  its  existence.  The  constitutional  situation,  during  which 
it  was  to  sway,  was  changing  more  and  more  decidedly  into  a  revo- 
lutionary situation.  How  could  a  legal  and  moderate  party  main- 
tain itself  between  two  extreme  and  belligerent  parties,  one 
of  which  was  advancing  from  without  to  destroy  the  revolution, 
while  the  other  was  resolved  to  defend  it  at  any  cost?  The  Feuil- 
lants  became  superfluous  in  such  a  conjuncture.  The  king,  per- 
ceiving their  weakness,  now  seemed  to  place  his  reliance  upon 
Europe  alone,  and  sent  Mallet-Dupan  on  a  secret  mission  to  the 
coalition.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "  the  choice  of  such  a  man 
proves  that  the  king  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  emigrants." 

Meantime,  all  those  who  had  been  outstripped  by  the  popular 
tide,  and  who  belonged  to  the  first  period  of  the  revolution,  united 
to  second  this  slight  retrograde  movement.  The  monarchists,  at 
whose  head  were  Lally-Tollendal  and  Malouet,  two  of  the  principal 
members  of  the  Mounier  and  Necker  party ;  the  Feuillants,  directed 
by  the  old  triumvirate,  Duport,  Lameth,  and  Barnave;  lastly,  La- 
fayette, W'ho  had  immense  reputation  as  a  constitutionalist,  tried  to 
put  down  the  clubs  and  to  reestablish  legal  order  and  the  power  of 
the  king.  The  Jacobins  made  great  exertions  at  this  period ;  their 
influence  was  becoming  enormous:  they  were  at  the  head  of  the 
party  of  the  populace.  To  oppose  them,  to  check  them,  the  old 
party  of  the  bourgeoisie  was  required ;  but  this  was  disorganized, 
and  its  influence  grew  daily  weaker  and  weaker.  In  order  to 
revive  its  courage  and  strength,  Lafayette,  on  June  i6,  addressed 
from  the  camp  at  Maubeuge  a  letter  to  the  assembly,  in  which  he 
denounced  the  Jacobin  faction,  required  the  cessation  of  the  clubs, 
the  independence  and  confirmation  of  the  constitutional  throne, 
and  urged  the  assembly  in  his  own  name,  in  that  of  his  army,  in 
tliat  of  all  the  friends  of  liberty,  only  to  adopt  such  measures  for 
the  public  welfare  as  were  sanctioned  by  law.  This  letter  gave  rise 
to  warm  de1)ates  between  the  Right  and  Left  in  the  assembly. 
Though  dictated  only  by  pure  and  disinterested  motives,  it  ap- 
peared, coming  as  it  did  from  a  young  general  at  the  head  of  his 
army,  a  proceeding  a  la  Cromwell,  and  from  that  moment  La- 
fayette's reputation,  hitherto  respected  by  his  opponents,  became 
the  object  of  attack.  In  fact,  considering  it  merely  in  a  political 
point  of  view,  this  step  was  imprudent.  The  Gironde,  driven  from 
the  ministry,  stopped  in  its  measures  for  the  public  good,  needed 
no  further  goading;  and.  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  quite  unde- 


178  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

sirable  that  Lafayette,  even  for  the  benefit  of  his  party,  should  use 
his  influence. 

The  Gironde  wished,  for  its  own  safety  and  that  of  the  nation, 
to  recover  power,  without,  however,  departing  from  constitutional 
means.  Its  object  was  not,  as  at  a  later  period,  to  dethrone  the 
king,  but  to  bring  him  back  among  them.  For  this  purpose  it  had 
recourse  to  the  imperious  petitions  of  the  multitude.  Since  the 
declaration  of  war  petitioners  had  appeared  in  arms  at  the  bar  of 
the  national  assembly,  had  offered  their  services  in  defense  of  the 
country,  and  had  obtained  permission  to  march  armed  through  the 
house.  This  concession  was  blamable,  neutralizing  all  the  laws 
against  military  gatherings;  but  both  parties  found  themselves  in 
an  extraordinary  position,  and  each  employed  an  illegal  means ;  the 
court  having  recourse  to  Europe,  and  the  Gironde  to  the  people. 
The  latter  was  in  a  state  of  great  agitation.  The  leaders  of  the 
faubourgs,  among  whom  were  the  deputy  Chabot,  Santerre,  Le- 
gendre,  a  butcher,  Gonchon,  the  Marquis  de  Saint  Hurugues,  pre- 
pared them,  during  several  days,  for  a  revolutionary  outbreak, 
similar  to  the  one  which  failed  at  the  Champ  de  Mars.  June  20 
was  approaching,  the  anniversary  of  the  oath  of  the  tennis-court. 
Under  the  pretext  of  celebrating  this  memorable  day  by  a  civic  fete, 
and  of  planting  a  May  pole  in  honor  of  liberty,  an  asseml^lage  of 
about  8000  men  left  the  faubourgs  Saint  Antoine  and  Saint  Mar- 
ceau  on  June  20  and  took  their  way  to  the  assembly.  Everyone 
was  aware  that  not  merely  a  harmless  procession  was  intended. 
The  worst  of  the  Jacobin  faction  were  the  leaders  of  the  scheme. 
Though  Santerre  and  Alexandre  were  apparently  the  chief  actors 
in  it,  Danton  Was  the  mover  behind  the  scenes. 

Petion's  participation  in  this  abominable  policy  of  the  Giron- 
dists was  a  disgrace  to  his  office.  June  20  w^as  the  supreme 
attempt  of  the  Girondists  to  overwhelm  the  monarchy.  They 
never  afterward  commanded  so  much  power.  In  order  to  suc- 
ceed it  was  necessary  to  have  Pction,  the  mayor,  as  an  ally. 
Petion's  desire  to  increase  his  power  led  him  to  aid  the  scheme  on 
foot.  On  June  19  the  directory  of  the  department  forbade  the 
carrying  out  of  the  programme  of  the  suburbs,  because  it  was 
illegal  for  armed  crowds  to  present  petitions.  Petion  consulted 
with  the  captains,  among  whom  were  the  leaders  of  the  whole 
movement,  Santerre  and  Alexandre.  They  declared  it  impossible 
to  make  the  people  desist  from  their  purpose. 


NATIONAL    ASSEMBLY  179 

1792 

Upon  the  sugg-estion  of  St.  Prix,  that  the  illegal  acts  of  the 
people  might  be  made  legal  by  ordering  the  guardians  of  the  law  to 
participate  in  these  illegal  acts,  Petion  wrote  to  the  directory.  The 
next  morning  Petion  was  again  peremptorily  ordered  to  prevent 
the  crowd  going  armed.  Petion  was  in  no  hurry  to  send  the  coun- 
ter-order, and  when  he  did  so  he  sent  it  by  policemen  who  did  not 
wish  to  give  it.  Several  of  the  captains  tried  to  make  their  men 
obey  orders,  but  it  was  of  no  avail.  Santerre,  seeing  the  whole 
plot  was  likely  to  miscarry,  called  to  his  men :  "  Petion  is  with  you ; 
forward  march."  Upon  this  the  procession  started,  followed  by 
dense  crowds.  The  assembly  was  informed  that  8000  men  were 
coming  to  present  petitions.  The  Right  insisted  on  the  law  for- 
bidding the  presentation  of  petitions  of  armed  men.  The  Giron- 
dists assured  the  assembly  that  the  mob  had  none  but  honest  in- 
tentions.^ Vergniaud  declared  that  the  assembly  would  violate  every 
principle  by  admitting  armed  bands  among  them ;  but,  considering 
actual  circumstances,  he  also  declared  that  it  was  impossible  to  deny 
a  request  in  the  present  case,  that  had  been  granted  in  so  many 
others. 

It  was  difficult  not  to  yield  to  the  desires  of  an  enthusiastic 
and  vast  multitude,  when  seconded  by  a  majority  of  the  representa- 
tives. The  crowd  already  thronged  the  passages,  when  the  assem- 
bly decided  that  the  petitioners  should  be  admitted  to  the  bar.  The 
deputation  was  introduced.  The  spokesman  expressed  himself  in 
threatening  language.  He  said  that  the  people  were  astir;  that 
they  were  ready  to  make  use  of  great  means — the  means  comprised 
in  the  declaration  of  rights,  resistance  of  oppression ;  that  the  dis- 
sentient members  of  the  assembly,  if  there  were  any,  would  purge 
the  world  of  liberty,  and  would  repair  to  Coblentz ;  then,  returning 
to  the  true  design  of  this  insurrectional  petition,  he  added :  "  The 
executive  power  is  not  in  union  with  you ;  we  require  no  other 
proof  of  it  than  the  dismissal  of  the  patriot  ministers.  It  is  thus, 
then,  that  the  happiness  of  a  free  nation  shall  depend  on  the  caprice 
of  a  king!  But  should  this  king  have  any  other  will  than  that 
of  the  law?  The  people  will  have  it  so,  and  the  life  of  the  people 
is  as  valuable  as  that  of  crowned  despots.  That  life  is  the  gen- 
ealogical tree  of  the  nation,  and  the  feeble  reed  must  bend  before 

^  On  these  events  sec:  Stephens,  "French  Revohition,"  vol.  TI.  pp.  82-97; 
Tliiers.  '"French  Revolution,"  vol.  T.,  pp.  266-273;  Mortimer-Tcrneaux,  "La 
Tcrrciir,"  vol.  I.  pp.  129-223;  Von  Sybel,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  I.  p.  476. 


180  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


this  sturdy  oak!  We  complain,  gentlemen,  of  the  inactivity  of  our 
armies ;  we  require  of  you  to  penetrate  into  the  cause  of  this ;  if  it 
spring  from  the  executive  power,  let  that  power  be  destroyed ! " 

The  assembly  answered  the  petitioners  that  it  would  take 
their  request  into  consideration;  it  then  urged  them  to  respect  the 
law  and  legal  authorities,  and  allowed  them  to  defile  before  it. 
This  procession,  amounting  to  30,000  persons,  comprising  women, 
children,  national  guards,  and  men  armed  with  pikes,  among  whom 
waved  revolutionary  banners  and  symbols,  sang,  as  they  traversed 
the  hall,  the  famous  chorus,  "  Ca  ira,"  and  cried :  "  Vive  la  nation!  " 
"  Vivent  Ics  sans-culottes! "  *'  A  has  le  veto!  "  It  was  led  by  San- 
terre  and  the  Marquis  de  Saint  Hurugues.  On  leaving  the  as- 
sembly it  proceeded  to  the  chateau,  headed  by  the  petitioners. 

The  outer  doors  were  opened  at  the  king's  command;  the 
multitude  rushed  into  the  interior.  They  ascended  to  the  apart- 
ments, and  while  forcing  the  doors  with  hatchets,  the  king  ordered 
them  to  be  opened,  and  appeared  before  them,  accompanied  by  a 
few  persons.  The  mob  stopped  a  moment  before  him ;  but  those  who 
were  outside,  not  being  awed  by  the  presence  of  the  king,  continued 
to  advance.  Louis  XVI.  was  prudently  placed  in  the  recess  of  a 
window.  He  never  displayed  more  courage  than  on  this  deplor- 
able day.  Surrounded  by  national  guards,  w^ho  formed  a  barrier 
against  the  mob,  seated  on  a  chair  placed  on  a  table,  that  he  might 
breathe  more  freely  and  be  seen  by  the  people,  he  preserved  a  calm 
and  firm  demeanor.  In  reply  to  the  cries  that  arose  on  all  sides 
for  the  sanction  of  the  decrees,  he  said :  "  This  is  neither  the  mode 
nor  the  moment  to  obtain  it  of  me."  Having  the  courage  to  re- 
fuse the  essential  object  of  the  meeting,  he  thought  he  ought  not  to 
reject  a  symbol,  meaningless  for  him,  but  in  the  eyes  of  the  people 
that  of  liberty :  he  placed  on  his  head  a  red  cap  presented  to  him  on 
the  top  of  a  pike.  The  multitude  were  quite  satisfied  with  this 
condescension.  A  moment  or  two  afterward  they  loaded  him 
with  applause,  as,  almcst  suffocated  with  hunger  and  thirst,  he 
drank  off,  without  hesitation,  a  glass  of  wine  presented  to  him  by  a 
half-drunken  workman.  In  the  meantime,  Vergniaud,  Isnard. 
and  a  few  deputies  of  the  Gironde  had  hastened  thither  to  protect 
the  king,  to  address  the  people,  and  put  an  end  to  these  indecent 
scenes.  The  assembly,  which  had  just  risen  from  a  sitting,  met 
again  in  haste,  terrified  at  this  outbreak,  and  dispatched  several 
successive  deputations  to  Louis  XVI.  by  way  of  protection.      At 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  181 

1792 

length  Petion,  the  mayor,  himself  arrived;  he  mounted  a  chair, 
harangued  the  people^  urging  them  to  retire  without  tumult,  and 
the  people  obeyed. 

The  events  of  June  20  excited  the  friends  of  the  constitution 
against  its  authors.  The  violation  of  the  royal  residence,  the 
insults  offered  to  Louis  XVL,  the  illegality  of  a  petition  presented 
amid  the  violence  of  the  multitude,  and  the  display  of  arms  were 
subjects  of  serious  censure  against  the  popular  party.  The  latter 
saw  itself  reduced  for  a  moment  to  the  defensive;  besides  being 
guilty  of  a  riot,  it  had  undergone  a  complete  check.  The  constitu- 
tionalists assumed  the  tone  and  superiority  of  an  offended  and  pre- 
dominant party;  but  this  lasted  only  a  short  time,  for  they  were 
not  seconded  by  the  court.  The  national  guard  offered  to  Louis 
XVL  to  remain  assembled  round  his  person ;  the  Due  de  la  Roche- 
foucauld-Liancourt,  who  commanded  at  Rouen,  wished  to  convey 
him  to  his  troops,  who  were  devoted  to  his  cause.  Lafayette  pro- 
posed to  take  him  to  Compiegne  and  place  him  at  the  head  of  his 
army;  but  Louis  XVL  declined  all  these  oft'ers.  He  conceived  that 
the  agitators  would  be  disgusted  at  the  failure  of  their  last  attempt; 
and,  as  he  hoped  for  deliverance  from  the  coalition  of  European 
powers,  rendered  more  active  by  the  events  of  June  20,  he  was  un- 
willing to  make  use  of  the  constitutionalists,  because  he  would  have 
been  obliged  to  treat  with  them. 

Lafayette,  however,  attempted  to  make  a  last  effort  in  favor 
of  legal  monarchy.  After  having  provided  for  the  command  of 
his  army,  and  collected  addresses  protesting  against  the  late  events, 
he  started  for  Paris,  and  on  June  28  he  unexpectedly  presented 
himself  at  the  bar  of  the  assembly.  He  required  in  his  name,  as 
well  as  in  that  of  his  army,  the  punishment  of  the  insurrectionists 
of  June  20  and  the  destruction  of  the  Jacobin  party.  His  proceed- 
ing excited  various  sentiments  in  the  assembly.  The  Right  warmly 
applauded  it,  but  the  Left  protested  against  his  conduct.  Guadet 
proposed  that  an  inquiry  should  be  made  as  to  his  culpability  in 
leaving  his  army  and  coming  to  dictate  laws  to  the  assembly. 
Some  remains  of  respect  prevented  the  latter  from  following  Gua- 
det's  advice ;  and  after  tumultuous  debates  Lafayette  was  admitted 
to  the  honors  of  the  sitting,  but  tin's  was  all  on  the  part  of  the 
assembly.  Lafayette  tlien  turned  to  tlie  national  guard,  that  had 
so  long  been  devoted  to  him,  and  hoped  with  its  aid  to  close  the 
rlubs,  disperse  the  Jacobins,  restore  to  Louis  XVL  the  authority 


182  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


which  the  law  gave  him,  and  again  estabhsh  the  constitution.  The 
revoUitionists  were  astounded,  and  dreaded  everything  from  the 
daring  and  activity  of  this  adversary  of  the  Champ  de  Mars.  But 
the  court,  which  feared  the  triumph  of  the  constitutionahsts,  caused 
Lafayette's  projects  to  fail;  he  had  appointed  a  review,  which  it 
contrived  to  prevent  by  its  influence  over  the  officers  of  the  royalist 
battalions.  The  grenadiers  and  chasseurs,  picked  companies,  and 
those  better  disposed  than  the  rest,  were  to  assemble  at  his  resi- 
dence and  proceed  against  the  clubs;  scarcely  thirty  men  came. 
Having  thus  vainly  attempted  to  rally  in  the  cause  of  the  constitu- 
tion and  the  common  defense,  the  court  and  the  national  guard, 
and  finding  himself  deserted  by  those  he  came  to  assist,  Lafayette 
returned  to  his  army,  after  having  lost  what  little  influence  and 
popularity  remained  to  him.  This  attempt  was  the  last  symptom 
of  life  in  the  constitutional  party. 

The  assembly  naturally  returned  to  the  situation  of  France, 
which  had  not  changed.  The  extraordinary  commission  of  twelve 
presented,  through  Pastoret,  an  unsatisfactory  picture  of  the  state 
and  divisions  of  party.  Jean  Debry,  in  the  name  of  the  same 
commission,  proposed  that  the  assembly  should  secure  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  people,  now  greatly  disturbed,  by  declaring  that 
when  the  crisis  became  imminent  the  assembly  would  declare  the 
country  to  be  in  danger,  and  that  it  would  then  take  measures  for  the 
public  safety.  The  debate  opened  upon  this  important  subject. 
Vergniaud,  in  a  speech  which  deeply  moved  the  assembly,  drew  a 
vivid  picture  of  all  the  perils  to  which  the  country  was  at  that  mo- 
ment exposed.  He  said  that  it  was  in  the  name  of  the  king  that  the 
emigrants  were  assembled,  that  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  had 
formed  a  coalition,  that  foreign  armies  were  marching  on  the  fron- 
tiers, and  that  internal  disturbances  were  taking  place.  He  accused 
him  of  checking  the  national  zeal  by  his  refusals,  and  of  giving 
France  up  to  the  coalition.  He  quoted  the  article  of  the  constitution 
by  which  it  was  declared  that  "  if  the  king  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  an  army  and  directed  its  force  against  the  nation,  or  if  he  did  not 
formally  oppose  such  an  enterprise,  undertaken  in  his  name,  he 
should  be  considered  as  having  abdicated  the  throne."  Supposing, 
tlien,  that  Louis  XVT.  voluntarily  opposed  the  means  of  defending 
the  country,  in  that  case,  said  he :  "  Have  we  not  a  right  to  say  to 
him:  *0  king,  who  tliought,  no  doubt,  with  the  tyrant  Lysander, 
that  truth  was  of  no  more  worth  than  falsehood,  and  that  men  were 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  18S 

1792 

to  be  amused  by  oaths,  as  children  are  diverted  by  toys ;  who  only 
feigned  obedience  to  the  laws  that  you  might  better  preserve  the 
power  that  enables  you  to  defy  them;  and  who  only  feigned  love 
for  the  constitution  that  it  might  not  precipitate  you  from  the 
throne  on  which  you  wished  to  remain,  only  to  destroy  the  consti- 
tution, do  you  expect  to  deceive  us  by  hypocritical  protestations? 
Do  you  think  to  deceive  us  as  to  our  misfortunes  by  the  art  of  your 
excuses?  Was  it  defending  us  to  oppose  to  foreign  soldiers  forces 
whose  known  inferiority  admitted  of  no  doubt  as  to  their  defeat? 
to  set  aside  projects  for  strengthening  the  interior?  Was  it  de- 
fending us  not  to  check  a  general  who  was  violating  the  constitu- 
tion, while  you  repressed  the  courage  of  those  wiio  sought  to  serve 
it?  Did  the  constitution  leave  you  the  choice  of  ministers  for  our 
happiness  or  our  ruin?  did  it  place  you  at  the  head  of  our  army  for 
our  glory  or  our  shame?  did  it  give  you  the  right  of  sanction,  a 
civil  list  and  so  many  prerogatives,  constitutionally  to  lose  the 
empire  and  the  constitution?  No!  no!  Man,  whom  the  generosity 
of  the  French  could  not  affect,  whom  the  love  of  despotism  alone 
actuates,  you  are  now  nothing  to  the  constitution  you  have  so 
unworthily  violated,  and  to  the  people  you  have  so  basely 
betrayed ! '  " 

The  only  recourse  of  the  Gironde,  in  its  present  situation, 
was  the  abdication  of  the  king;  Vergniaud,  it  is  true,  as  yet  only 
expressed  himself  ambiguously,  but  all  the  popular  party  attributed 
to  Louis  XVL  projects  which  Vergniaud  had  only  expressed  in 
the  form  of  suppositions.  In  a  few  days  Brissot  expressed  him- 
self more  openly.  "  Our  peril,"  said  he,  "  exceeds  all  that  past 
ages  have  witnessed.  The  country  is  in  danger,  not  because  we 
are  in  want  of  troops,  not  because  those  troops  want  courage,  or 
that  our  frontiers  are  badly  fortified,  and  our  resources  scanty. 
No;  it  is  in  danger  because  its  force  is  paralyzed.  And  who  has 
paralyzed  it?  A  man — one  man,  the  man  whom  the  constitution 
has  made  its  chief,  and  whom  perfidious  advisers  have  made  its  foe. 
You  are  told  to  fear  tlie  kings  of  Hungary  and  Prussia ;  I  say  the 
chief  force  of  these  kings  is  at  the  court,  and  it  is  there  that  we 
must  first  conquer  them.  They  tell  you  to  strike  the  dissentient 
priests  throughout  tlie  kingdom.  I  tell  you  to  strike  at  the  Tuile- 
ries,  that  is,  to  fell  all  the  priests  with  a  single  blow ;  you  are  told 
to  prosecute  all  facticms  and  intriguing  conspirators ;  thev  will  all 
disappear  if  you  once  knock  loud  enough  at  the  door  of  the  cabinet 


1H4>  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

of  the  Tuileries,  for  that  cabinet  is  tlie  point  to  which  all  these 
threads  tend,  where  every  scheme  is  plotted,  and  whence  every  im- 
pulse proceeds.  The  nation  is  the  plaything  of  this  cabinet.  This 
is  the  secret  of  our  position,  this  is  the  source  of  the  evil,  and  here 
the  remedy  must  be  applied." 

In  this  way  the  Gironde  prepared  the  assembly  for  the  ques- 
tion of  deposition.  But  the  great  question  concerning  the  danger 
of  the  country  was  first  terminated.  The  three  united  committees 
declared  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  measures  for  the  public 
safety,  and  on  July  5  the  assembly  pronounced  the  solemn  declara- 
tion: Citizens,  the  country  is  in  danger!  All  the  civil  authorities 
immediately  established  themselves  en  surveillance  permanente. 
All  citizens  able  to  bear  arms,  and  having  already  served  in  the 
national  guard,  were  placed  in  active  service ;  everyone  was  obliged 
to  make  known  what  arms  and  ammunition  he  possessed ;  pikes 
were  given  to  those  who  were  unable  to  procure  guns;  battalions 
of  volunteers  were  enrolled  on  the  public  squares,  in  the  midst  of 
which  banners  were  placed  bearing  the  words — "  Citizens,  the 
country  is  in  danger!  "  and  a  camp  was  formed  at  Soissons.  These 
measures  of  defense,  now  become  indispensable,  raised  the  revolu- 
tionary enthusiasm  to  the  highest  pitch.  It  was  especially  observ- 
able on  the  anniversary  of  July  14,  when  the  sentiments  of  the 
multitude  and  the  federates  from  the  departments  were  mani- 
fested without  reserve.  Petion  was  the  object  of  the  people's 
idolatry,  and  had  all  the  honors  of  the  federation.  A  few  days 
before  he  had  been  dismissed,  on  account  of  his  conduct  on  June 
20,  by  the  directory  of  the  department  and  the  council ;  but  the 
assembly  had  restored  him  to  his  functions,  and  the  only  cry  on  the 
day  of  the  federation  was:  "Petion  or  death!"  The  directory 
of  the  department  had  undertaken  an  examination  of  the  events  of 
the  20th  and  declared  and  decreed  the  suspension  of  Petion  and 
V'  c.v-eur  ^Manuel.  The  approval  of  the  king  was  necessary, 
though  the  national  assembly  was  empowered  to  annul  the  sentence, 
even  after  the  approval  of  the  king.  If  the  king  confirmed  the  sen- 
tence, he  again  provoked  the  passions  of  the  masses;  if  he  did  not, 
he  delivered  tlie  directory,  which  strove  to  maintain  law  and  order, 
up  to  the  rage  of  the  mob.  He  asked  them  to  dispense  with 
his  action,  but  the  Left  refused. 

Petition  alter  petition  v^as  sent  in  for  the  reinstatement  of 
Petion  in  liis  office.      On  the  12th  the  king's  approval  of  the  sus- 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  185 

1792 

pension  was  sent  in.  Petion  appeared  before  the  assembly  and 
hurled  accusation  and  insult  upon  the  directory  and  the  king. 
The  Right  demanded  to  have  the  documents  bearing  on  the  case 
read.  The  Left  thought  no  proofs  were  needed.  The  suspension 
of  the  mayor  was  canceled. 

The  national  guard  and  the  great  majority  of  the  better  classes 
of  the  population  were  incensed  atid  disgusted  over  the  20th.  A 
petition  in  this  sense  received  20,000  signatures.  The  directory 
of  the  department  is  entitled  to  praise  for  having  done  with 
resoluteness  and  circumspectness  everything  in  its  power  to  set 
things  right,  but  its  legal  power  did  not  correspond  with  its  will 
and  judgment.  The  constitution  had  created  the  hierarchical 
power  of  the  public  authorities,  but  not  in  a  single  case  had  it 
accorded  the  higher  authorities  the  means  effectually  to  control 
their  inferiors. 

The  Girondists  had  not  the  heart  to  take  the  lead  of  the  ele- 
ments who  evidently  were  very  soon  to  dictate  the  law.  On  July 
20,  Guadet,  Gensonne,  and  Vergniaud  sent  a  letter  to  the  king 
offering  him  an  alliance.  It  was  as  certain  that  the  king  would 
not  accede  to  their  request  as  that  it  would  be  regarded  by  the 
Jacobins  as  a  capital  crime.  The  leaders  were  very  much  sur- 
prised at  the  refusal  of  the  king.  Guadet  moved  an  address  to 
the  king.  The  Left  boldly  took  the  offensive.  Couthon  even  ad- 
vocated that  in  the  future  the  decrees  necessitated  by  circumstances 
should  not  need  the  approval  of  the  king.  As  the  assembly  could 
declare  any  law  such,  it  would  be  the  abolishment  of  the  constitu- 
tional veto  power  of  the  king.  The  assembly  contented  itself  with 
simply  affirming  the  existing  law  against  armed  crowds  and  the 
presentation  of  petitions  by  such.  The  Radicals  grew  bolder,  and 
intended  to  renew  the  demands  of  the  20th  on  the  21st  and  the 
27th,  but  it  was  not  carried  out.  A  few  battalions  of  the 
national  guard,  such  as  that  of  tlie  Filles-Saint-Thomas,  still 
betrayed  attachment  to  the  court:  they  became  the  object  of  popu- 
lar resentment  and  mistrust.  A  disturbance  was  excited  in  the 
Champs  Elysees  between  the  grenadiers  of  the  Filles-Saint-Thomas 
and  the  federates  of  Marseilles,  in  which  some  grenadiers  w'ere 
wounded.  Every  day  the  crisis  became  more  imminent ;  the  party 
in  favor  of  war  could  no  longer  endure  that  of  the  constitution. 
Attacks  against  Lafayette  multiplied;  he  was  censured  in  the  jour- 
nals,  denounced   in   the  assembly.       At   length    hostilities   began. 


186  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


71ie  club  of  the  Feuillants  was  closed ;  the  grenadier  and  chasseur 
companies  of  the  national  guard  which  formed  the  force  of  the 
bourgeoisie  were  disbanded ;  the  soldiers  of  the  line,  and  a  portion 
of  the  Swiss,  were  sent  away  from  Paris,  and  open  preparations 
were  made  for  the  catastrophe  of  August  lo. 

The  progress  of  the  Prussians  and  the  famous  manifesto  of 
Brunswick  contributed  to  hasten  this  movement.  Prussia  had 
joined  Austria  and  the  German  princes  gainst  France.  This  coali- 
tion, to  which  the  court  of  Turin  joined  itself,  was  formidable, 
though  it  did  not  comprise  all  the  princes  that  were  to  have  joined 
it  at  first.  The  death  of  Gustavus,  appointed  at  first  commander 
of  the  invading  army,  detached  Sweden ;  the  substitution  of  the 
Count  d'Aranda,  a  prudent  and  moderate  man,  for  the  minister 
Blanca-Florida,  prevented  Spain  from  entering  it;  Russia  and 
England  secretly  approved  the  attacks  of  the  European  league, 
without  as  yet  cooperating  with  it.  After  the  military  operations 
already  mentioned  they  watched  each  other  rather  than  fought. 
During  the  interval  Lafayette  had  inspired  his  anny  with  good 
habits  of  discipline  and  devotedness ;  and  Dumouriez,  stationed 
under  Luckner  at  the  camp  of  Maulde,  had  inured  the  troops  con- 
fided to  him  by  petty  engagements  and  daily  successes.  In  this 
way  they  had  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  good  army,  a  desirable 
thing,  as  they  required  organization  and  confidence  to  repel  the 
approaching  invasion  of  the  coalesced  powers. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick  directed  it.  He  had  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  enemy's  army,  composed  of  70,000  Prussians  and 
68,000  Austrians,  Hessians,  or  emigrants.  The  plan  of  invasion 
was  as  follows.  The  Duke  of  Brunswick  w^ith  the  Prussians  was 
to  pass  the  Rhine  at  Coblentz,  ascend  the  left  bank  of  the  Moselle, 
attack  the  French  frontier  by  its  central  and  most  accessible  point, 
and  advance  on  the  capital  by  way  of  Longwy,  Verdun,  and 
Chalons.  The  Prince  de  Hohenlohe,  on  his  left,  was  to  advance  in 
the  direction  of  Metz  and  Thionville,  with  the  Hessians  and  a  body 
of  emigrants;  while  General  Clairfait,  with  the  Austrians  and  an- 
other body  of  emigrants,  was  to  overthrow  Lafayette,  stationed 
be  lore  Sedan  and  Mezieres,  cross  the  ]\Ieuse,  and  march  upon  Paris 
by  Reims  and  Soissons.  Thus  the  center  and  two  wings  were  to 
make  a  concentrated  advance  on  the  capital  from  the  Moselle,  the 
Rhine,  and  the  Netherlands.  Other  detachments  stationed  on  the 
frontier  of  the  Rliine  and  the  extreme  nortb.crn  frontier    were  to 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  187 

1792 

attack  the  French  troops  on  these  sides  and  facihtate  the  central 
invasion. 

When  the  army  began  to  move  from  Coblentz,  July  28,  1792, 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick  published  a  manifesto  in  the  name  of  the 
emperor  and  the  King  of  Prussia.  He  reproached  those  who  had 
usurped  the  reins  of  administration  in  France  with  having  dis- 
turbed order  and  overturned  the  legitimate  government ;  with  hav- 
ing used  daily  renewed  violence  against  the  king  and  his  family ; 
with  having  arbitrarily  suppressed  the  rights  and  possessions  of  the 
German  princes  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine;  and,  finally,  with  having 
crowned  the  measure  by  declaring  an  unjust  war  against  his 
majesty  the  emperor  and  attacking  his  provinces  in  the  Nether- 
lands. He  declared  that  the  allied  sovereigns  were  advancing  to 
put  an  end  to  anarchy  in  France,  to  arrest  the  attacks  made  on  the 
altar  and  the  throne,  to  restore  to  the  king  the  security  and  liberty 
he  was  deprived  of,  and  to  place  him  in  a  condition  to  exercise  his 
legitimate  authority.  He  consequently  rendered  the  national  guard 
and  the  authorities  responsible  for  all  the  disorders  that  should 
arise  until  the  arrival  of  the  troops  of  the  coalition.  He  summoned 
them  to  return  to  their  ancient  fidelity.  He  said  that  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  towns,  who  dared  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  should 
instantly  be  punished  as  rebels,  with  the  rigor  of  war,  and  their 
houses  demolished  or  burned;  that  if  the  city  of  Paris  did  not 
restore  the  king  to  full  liberty  and  render  him  due  respect,  the 
coalesced  princes  would  make  it,  all  the  members  of  the  national 
assembly,  of  the  department,  of  the  district,  the  corporation,  and 
the  national  guard,  personally  responsible  with  their  heads,  to  be 
tried  by  martial-law,  and  without  hope  of  pardon ;  and  that  if 
the  chateau  were  attacked  or  insulted,  the  princes  would  inflict 
an  exemplary  and  never-to-be-forgotten  vengeance,  by  delivering 
Paris  over  to  military  execution  and  total  subversion.  He  prom- 
ised, on  the  other  hand,  if  the  inhabitants  of  Paris  v.-ould  promptly 
obey  tlie  orders  of  the  coalition,  to  secure  fnr  them  the  mediation  of 
the  coalesced  princes  with  Louis  XVI.  for  the  pardon  of  their 
offenses  and  errors.  If  this  manifesto  liad  been  dictated  to  the 
duke  by  the  Jacobins  they  could  hardly  have  produced  a  paper 
better  calculated  to  serve  their  purposes. 

This  ficrv  and  impolitic  manifesto,  which  disguised  neither 
the  designs  of  the  emigrants  nor  tlmsc  ef  Europe,  which  treated  a 
great  nation   with  a  trulv  extraordiiiarv    tone    of    command  and 


188  T  II  K     F  K  K  N  C  H     REVOLUTION 

1792 

contempt,  which  openly  announced  to  it  all  the  miseries  of  an  in- 
vasion, and  moreover,  vengeance  and  despotism,  excited  a  national 
insurrection.  It  more  than  anything  else  hastened  the  fall  of  the 
throne,  and  prevented  the  success  of  the  coalition.  There  was  but 
one  wish,  one  cry  of  resistance,  from  one  end  of  France  to  the 
other,  and  whoever  had  not  joined  in  it  would  have  been  looked 
on  as  guilty  of  impiety  toward  his  country  and  the  sacred  cause 
of  its  independence.  The  popular  party,  placed  in  the  necessity 
of  conquering,  saw  no  other  way  than  that  of  annihilating  the 
power  of  the  king,  and  in  order  to  annihilate  it  than  that  of  de- 
throning him.  But  in  this  party  everyone  wished  to  attain  the 
end  in  his  own  way:  the  Gironde  by  a  decree  of  the  assembly;  the 
leaders  of  the  multitude  by  an  insurrection.  Danton,  Robespierre, 
Camille  Desmoulins,  Fabre  d'Eglantine,  Marat,  formed  a  dis- 
placed faction  requiring  a  revolution  that  would  raise  it  from  the 
midst  of  the  people  to  the  assembly  and  the  corporation.  They 
were  the  true  leaders  of  the  new  movement  about  to  take  place  by 
the  means  of  the  lower  class  of  society  against  the  middle  class,  to 
which  the  Girondists  belonged  by  their  habits  and  position.  A 
division  arose  from  that  day  between  those  who  only  wished  to 
suppress  the  court  in  the  existing  order  of  things  and  those  who 
wished  to  introduce  the  multitude.  The  latter  could  not  fall  in 
with  the  tardiness  of  discussion.  Agitated  by  every  revolutionary 
passion,  they  disposed  themselves  for  an  attack  by  force  of  arms, 
the  preparations  for  which  were  made  openly  and  a  long  time 
beforehand.  Their  enterprise  had  been  projected  and  suspended 
several  times.  On  July  26  an  insurrection  was  to  break  out ;  but  it 
was  badly  contrived,  and  Petion  prevented  it.  When  the  federates 
from  Marseilles  arrived,  on  their  way  to  the  camp  at  Soissons,  the 
faubourgs  were  to  meet  them,  and  then  repair,  unexpectedly,  to 
the  chateau.  This  insurrection  also  failed.  Yet  the  arrival  of  the 
Marseillcse  encouraged  the  agitators  of  the  capital,  and  conferences 
were  held  at  Charenton  between  them  and  the  federal  leaders  for 
the  overthrow  of  the  throne.  The  sections  were  much  agitated: 
that  of  ]\Iauconseil  was  the  first  to  declare  itself  in  a  state  of  in- 
surrection, and  notified  this  to  the  assembly.®     The  dethronement 

»'IIie  Section  Mauconseil  on  July  31  had.  on  its  own  account,  declared  the 
king  a  traitor,  yiviiitr  notice  that  it  no  longer  recognized  him,  and  asking  all 
other  sections  to  join  in  tliis  declaration.  When  these  resolutions  were  pre- 
sented to  the  assembly,  the  assembly  deemed  it  an  excess  of  patriotism  to  refuse 
the  deputation  the  honor  of  the  session. 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  189 

1792 

was  discussed  in  the  clubs,  and  on  August  3  the  mayor,  Petion, 
came  to  solicit  it  of  the  legislative  body  in  the  name  of  the  com- 
mune and  of  the  sections.  The  petition  was  referred  to  the  ex- 
traordinary commission  of  twelve.  On  the  8th  the  accusation  of 
Lafayette  was  discussed.  Some  remains  of  courage  induced  the 
majority  to  support  him,  and  not  without  danger.  He  was 
acquitted ;  but  all  who  had  voted  for  him  were  hissed,  pursued,  and 
ill  treated  by  the  people  at  the  breaking  up  of  the  sitting. 

The  following  day  the  excitement  was  extreme.  The  assem- 
bly learned  by  the  letters  of  a  large  number  of  deputies  that  the 
day  before  on  leaving  the  house  they  had  been  ill  used  and  threat- 
ened with  death  for  voting  the  acquittal  of  Lafayette.  Vaublanc 
announced  that  a  crowd  had  invested  and  searched  his  house  in 
pursuit  of  him.  Girardin  exclaimed :  "  Discussion  is  impossible 
without  perfect  liberty  of  opinion ;  I  declare  to  my  constituents 
that  I  cannot  deliberate  if  the  legislative  body  does  not  secure  me 
liberty  and  safety."  Vaublanc  earnestly  urged  that  the  assembly 
should  take  the  strongest  measures  to  secure  respect  to  the  law. 
He  also  required  that  the  federates  who  were  defended  by  the 
Girondists  should  be  sent  without  delay  to  Soissons.  During 
these  debates  the  president  received  a  message  from  De  Joly,  min- 
ister of  justice.  He  announced  that  the  mischief  was  at  its  height, 
and  the  people  urged  to  every  kind  of  excess.  He  gave  an  account 
of  those  committed  the  evening  before,  not  only  against  the  depu- 
ties, but  against  many  other  persons.  "  I  have,"  said  the  minister. 
"  denounced  these  attacks  in  the  criminal  court ;  but  law  is  power- 
less; and  I  am  impelled  by  honor  and  probity  to  inform  you  that 
without  the  promptest  assistance  of  the  legislative  body  the  gov- 
ernment can  no  longer  be  responsible."  In  the  meantime,  it  was 
announced  that  the  section  of  the  Ouinze-vingts  had  declared  that 
if  the  dethronement  were  not  pronounced  that  very  day.  at  mid- 
night they  would  sound  the  tocsin,  would  beat  the  generale  and 
attack  the  chateau.  This  decision  had  been  transmitted  to  the 
forty-eight  sections,  and  all  had  approved  it  except  one.  The  as- 
sembly summoned  the  recorder  of  the  department,  who  assured 
them  of  his  good  will,  but  his  inability;  and  the  mayor,  who  replied 
that,  at  a  time  when  the  sections  had  resumed  their  sovereignty, 
he  could  only  exercise  over  the  people  the  influence  of  persuasion. 
The  assembly  broke  up  witliout  adopting  any  measures. 

The  insurgents  fixed  tlie  attack  on  the  chateau  for  the  morn- 


190  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


ing  of  August  lo.  On  the  8lh  the  Marseillese  had  been  trans- 
ferred from  their  barracks  in  the  Rue  Blanche  to  the  CordeHers, 
with  their  arms,  cannon,  and  standard.  They  had  received  five 
thousand  ball  cartridges,  which  had  been  distributed  to  them  by 
command  of  the  commissioner  of  police.  The  principal  scene  of 
the  insurrection  was  the  Faubourg  Saint  Antoine.  In  the  evening, 
after  a  very  stormy  sitting,  the  Jacobins  repaired  thither  in  pro- 
cession; the  insurrection  was  then  organized.  It  was  decided  to 
dissolve  the  department ;  to  dismiss  Petion,  in  order  to  withdraw 
him  from  the  duties  of  his  place  and  all  responsibility;  and  finally, 
to  replace  the  general  council  of  the  present  commune  by  an  insur- 
rectional municipality.  The  municipal  council  was  the  blind  tool 
of  the  gang  which  called  itself  "  The  Commissaries  of  the  Sec- 
tions." Upon  their  behest  the  municipal  council  broke  down  in 
one  place  after  another  the  ability  of  the  legal  authorities  to  offer 
any  resistance.  It  had  summoned  the  commissaries  of  the  sec- 
tions to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  on  August  lo  to  deliberate  on  the 
formation  of  a  camp  at  Paris.  This  furnished  a  pretext  to  call 
upon  the  ultra-revolutionists  to  assemble.  Agitators  repaired  at 
the  same  time  to  the  sections  of  the  faubourgs  and  to  the  barracks 
of  the  federate  ]\Iarseillese  and  Bretons.  In  the  -government  of 
Paris  the  following  organizations  are  to  be  distinguished:  The 
corps  municipal,  presided  over  by  the  mayor;  it  included  the  bureau 
municipal,  formed  of  i6  administrators,  and  the  conseil  municipal, 
of  32  members.  These  48  members,  united  with  82  others,  com- 
posed the  general  council  of  the  commune,  having  a  procureur- 
syndic  and  2  substitutes.  They  were  all  theoretically  appointed  by 
a  process  of  double  election,  but  in  point  of  fact  the  leaders  of  the 
clubs  imposed  their  choice  upon  the  electors.  The  commune  dis- 
posed of  a  force  of  32,000  men,  divided  into  48  battalions. 

The  court  had  been  apprised  of  the  danger  for  some  time  and 
had  placed  itself  in  a  state  of  defense.  At  this  juncture  it  probably 
thought  it  was  not  only  able  to  resist,  but  also  entirely  to  reestab- 
lish itself.  The  interior  of  the  chateau  was  occupied  by  Swiss  to  the 
number  of  eight  or  nine  hundred,  by  officers  of  the  disbanded 
guard,  and  by  a  troop  of  gentlemen  and  royalists,  wdio  had  offered 
their  services,  armed  with  sal)ers,  swords,  and  pistols.  Mandat, 
the  gcneral-in-chief  uf  the  national  guard,  had  repaired  to  the 
chateau,  with  his  staff,  to  defend  it;  he  had  given  orders  to  the 
battalions  most  attadied  to  the  constitution  to  take  arms.     Mandat 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  191 

1792 

was  one  of  the  true  heroes  of  the  revolution,  although  the  part  he 
played  was  confined  to  one  day.  The  national  guard  to  the  number 
of  950  men  were  ordered  to  Paris,  but  of  these  only  a  part  could 
be  relied  upon. 

Mandat's  plan  was  to  meet  the  crowds  coming  from  Saint 
Antoine  and  Saint  Marceau  separately  and  outflank  them  both. 
Yet  for  this  important  work  he  had  to  trust  the  gendarmerie,  who 
had  first  set  the  example  of  mutiny  in  the  army.  What  could  be 
expected  from  such  men? 

The  ministers  were  also  W'ith  the  king;  the  recorder  of  the 
department  had  gone  thither  in  the  evening  at  the  command  of 
the  king,  who  had  also  sent  for  Petion,  to  ascertain  from  him 
the  state  of  Paris,  and  obtain  an  authorization  to  repel  force  by 
force. 

At  midnight  the  tocsin  sounded ;  the  generale  was  beaten. 
The  insurgents  assembled  and  fell  into  their  ranks ;  the  members 
of  the  sections  broke  up  the  municipality  and  named  a  provisional 
council  of  the  commune,  which  proceeded  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
to  direct  the  insurrection.  In  spite  of  assertions  to  the  contrary, 
it  is  now  proved  that  the  demagogues  succeeded  with  great  diffi- 
culty in  getting  the  revolution  properly  under  way;  in  all  the  sec- 
tions but  a  small  minority  of  the  citizens  acted.  In  several  sections 
the  most  radical  emphatically  protestcnl  against  the  insurrection; 
the  church  doors  were  forcibly  opened  by  roving  bands  to  sound 
the  tocsin;  the  principal  conspirators  conspired  cautiously,  in  the 
background;  in  a  word,  we  know  that  tlie  revolution  of  August 
10,  1792,  owed  its  success  not  merely  to  the  exertions  of  the  popu- 
lace, but  to  the  partially  cowardly  and  partially  criminal  failure  of 
all  legitimate  authorities  to  act  with  vigor.  The  battalions  of  the 
national  guard,  on  their  side,  took  the  route  to  the  chateau  and 
were  stationed  in  the  court,  or  at  the  principal  posts,  with  the 
mounted  gendarmerie;  artillerymen  occu]:)ied  the  avenues  of  the 
Tuilerics,  with  their  pieces,  wliile  the  Swiss  and  volunteers 
guarded  the  apartments.     1"hc  defense  was  in  the  best  condition. 

Some  deputies,  meanwhile,  aroused  l)y  the  tocsin,  had  hurried 
to  the  hall  of  the  legislative  body,  and  had  opened  the  sitting  under 
the  presidentship  of  Verginaud.  Hearing  that  Petion  was  at  the 
Tuileries,  and  presuming  he  was  detained  there,  and  wanted  to  be 
released,  thev  sent  for  him  to  the  bar  of  the  assembly,  to  give  an 
account  of  the  state  of  Paris.     On  receiving  this  order   he  left  the 


192  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

chateau;  he  appeared  before  the  assembly,  where  a  deputation 
again  inquired  for  him,  also  supposing  him  to  be  a  prisoner  at  the 
Tuileries.  With  this  deputation  he  returned  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
where  he  was  placed  under  a  guard  of  three  hundred  men  by  the 
new  commune.  The  latter,  unwilling  to  allow  any  other  authority 
on  this  day  of  disorder  than  the  insurrectional  authorities,  early 
in  the  morning  sent  for  the  commandant  Mandat  to  know  what 
arrangements  were  made  at  the  chateau.  Mandat  hesitated  to 
obey;  yet,  as  he  did  not  know  that  the  municipality  had  been 
changed,  and  as  his  duty  required  him  to  obey  its  orders,  on  a 
second  call  which  he  received  from  the  commune  he  proceeded  to 
the  Hotel  de  Ville.  On  perceiving  new  faces  as  he  entered,  he 
turned  pale.  He  was  accused  of  authorizing  the  troops  to  fire  on 
the  people.  He  became  agitated  and  was  ordered  to  the  Abbaye. 
He  was  asked  to  sign  an  order  commanding  half  of  the  troops 
at  the  Tuileries  to  retire.  He  declined  and  was  condemned  to 
prison,  and  the  commissaries  nominated  Santerre  in  his  place. 
The  municipal  council  protested  against  this,  and  then  they  rushed 
into  their  room  and  pushed  the  counselors  from  their  seats.  Man- 
dat was  shot  as  he  was  being  taken  out  of  the  room. 

The  court  was  thus  deprived  of  its  most  determined  and  in- 
fluential defender.  The  presence  of  Mandat  and  the  order  he  had 
received  to  employ  force  in  case  of  need  were  necessary  to  induce 
the  national  guard  to  fight.  The  sight  of  the  nobles  and  royalists 
had  lessened  its  zeal.  Mandat  himself,  previous  to  his  departure, 
had  urged  the  queen  in  vain  to  dismiss  this  troop,  which  the  con- 
stitutionalists considered  as  a  troop  of  aristocrats. 

About  four  in  the  morning  the  queen  summoned  Roederer, 
the  recorder  of  the  department,  who  had  passed  the  night  at  the 
Tuileries,  and  inquired  what  was  to  be  done  under  these  circum- 
stances. Rcrderer  replied  that  he  thought  it  necessary  that  the 
king  and  the  royal  family  should  proceed  to  the  national  assembly. 
"  You  propose."  said  Dubouchage.  "  to  take  the  king  to  his  foes." 
Rcrderer  replied  that  two  days  before  four  hundred  members  of 
that  assembly  out  of  six  hundred  had  pronounced  in  favor  of 
Lafayette,  and  tliat  he  had  only  proposed  this  plan  as  the  least 
dangerous.  The  (|ueen  then  said,  in  a  very  positive  tone :  "  Sir, 
we  have  forces  here:  it  is  at  length  time  to  know  who  is  to  pre- 
vail. Hie  king  and  the  constitution  or  faction?"  "In  that  case, 
madanie,"  rejoined  Rcederer,  "  let  us  see  what  arrangements  have 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  193 

1792 

been  made  for  resistance."  Laschenaye,  who  commanded  in  the 
absence  of  Mandat,  was  sent  for.  He  was  asked  if  he  had  taken 
measures  to  prevent  the  crowd  from  arriving  at  the  chateau?  If 
he  had  guarded  the  Carrousel?  He  repHed  in  the  affirmative,  and 
addressing  the  queen,  he  said,  in  a  tone  of  anger:  "I  must  not 
allow  you  to  remain  in  ignorance,  madame,  that  the  apartments 
are  filled  with  people  of  all  kinds,  who  very  much  impede  the 
service,  and  prevent  free  access  to  the  king,  a  circumstance  which 
creates  dissatisfaction  among  the  national  guard."  "  This  is  out 
of  season,"  replied  the  queen ;  "  I  will  answer  for  those  who  are 
here ;  they  will  advance  first  or  last,  in  the  ranks,  as  you  please ; 
they  are  ready  for  all  that  is  necessary ;  they  are  sure  men."  They 
contented  themselves  with  sending  the  two  ministers,  De  Joly  and 
Champion,  to  the  assembly  to  apprise  it  of  the  danger,  and  ask 
for  its  assistance  and  for  commissioners. 

Division  already  existed  between  the  defenders  of  the  chateau, 
when  Louis  XVI.  passed  them  in  review  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  He  first  visited  the  interior  posts,  and  found  them  ani- 
mated by  the  best  intentions.  He  was  accompanied  by  some  mem- 
bers of  his  family  and  appeared  extremely  sad.  "  I  will  not,"  he 
said,  "  separate  my  cause  from  that  of  good  citizens ;  we  will  save 
ourselves  or  perish  together."  He  then  descended  into  the  yard, 
accompanied  by  some  general  officers.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  they 
beat  tc  arms.  The  cry  of  "  Vive  Ic  roll "  was  heard,  and  was 
repeated  by  the  national  guard ;  but  the  artillerymen  and  the  bat- 
talion of  the  Croix  Rouge  replied  by  the  cry  of  "  Vive  la  nation!" 
At  the  same  instant  new  battalions,  armed  with  guns  and  pikes, 
defiled  before  the  king  and  took  their  places  upon  the  terrace  of 
the  Seine,  crying  "'  Vive  la  nation!"  "  Vive  Pction!"  The  king 
continued  the  review,  not,  however,  without  feeling  saddened  by 
this  omen.  He  was  received  with  the  strongest  evidences  of  devo- 
tion by  the  battalions  of  the  Filles-Saint-Thomas  and  Petits-Peres, 
who  occupied  the  terrace,  extending  the  length  of  the  chateau.  As 
he  crossed  the  garden  to  visit  the  ports  of  the  Pont  Tournant  the 
pike  battalions  pursued  him  witli  the  cry  of  "  Down  with  the 
veto!"  "Down  with  the  traitor!"  and  as  he  returned  they 
quitted  their  position,  placed  themselves  near  the  Pont  Royal,  and 
turned  their  cannon  against  the  chateau.  Two  other  battalions 
stationed  in  the  courts  imitated  them,  and  established  themselves 
on  the  Place  du  Carrousel  in  an  attitude  of  attack.     On  reenterincf 


194  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


the  castle  the  king  was  pale  and  dejected,  and  the  queen  said :  "  All 
is  lost!    This  kind  of  review  has  done  more  harm  than  good." 

While  all  this  was  passing  at  the  Tuileries  the  insurgents 
were  advancing  in  several  columns;  they  had  passed  the  night  in 
assemhling  and  becoming  organized.  In  the  morning  they  had 
forced  the  arsenal  and  distributed  the  arms.  The  column  of  the 
Faubourg  Saint  Antoine,  about  15,000  strong,  and  that  of  the 
Faubourg  Saint  Marceau,  amounting  to  5000,  began  to  march 
about  six.  The  crowd  increased  as  they  advanced.  Artillerymen 
had  been  placed  on  the  Pont  Neuf  by  the  directory  of  the  depart- 
ment in  order  to  prevent  the  union  of  the  insurgents  from  the  two 
sides  of  the  river.  But  Manuel,  the  town  clerk,  had  ordered  them 
to  be  withdrawn,  and  the  passage  was  accordingly  free.  The  van- 
guard of  the  faubourgs,  composed  of  Marseillese  and  Breton  feder- 
ates, had  already  arrived  by  the  Rue  Saint  Honore,  stationed  them- 
selves in  battle  array  on  the  Carrousel,  and  turned  their  cannon 
against  the  chateau.  De  Joly  and  Champion  returned  from  the 
assembly,  stating  that  the  attendance  was  not  sufficient  in  number 
to  debate,  that  it  scarcely  amounted  to  sixty  or  eighty  members, 
and  that  their  proposition  had  not  been  heard.  Then  RfKderer,  the 
recorder  of  t1ie  department,  with  the  members  of  the  department, 
presented  himself  to  the  crowd,  observing  that  so  great  a  multitude 
could  not  have  access  to  the  king  or  to  the  national  assembly,  and 
recommending  them  to  nominate  twenty  deputies  and  intrust  them 
with  their  requests.  But  they  did  not  listen  to  him.  He  turned  to 
the  national  guard,  and  reminded  them  of  the  article  of  the  law 
W'hich  enjoined  them  when  attacked  to  repel  force  by  force.  A  very 
small  part  of  the  national  guard  seemed  disposed  to  do  so,  and  a 
discharge  of  cannon  was  the  only  reply  of  the  artillerymen. 
Roederer,  seeing  that  the  insurgents  were  everywdiere  triumphant, 
that  tliey  were  masters  of  the  field,  and  that  they  disposed  of  the 
multitude,  and  even  of  the  troops,  returned  hastily  to  the  chateau, 
at  tlic  head  of  the  executive  directorv. 

The  king  held  a  council  with  the  queen  and  ministers.  A 
municipal  officer  liad  just  given  the  alarm  by  announcing  that  the 
columns  of  the  insurgents  were  advancing  upon  the  Tuileries. 
"Well,  what  do  tliey  want?"  asked  De  Joly,  keeper  of  the  seals. 
"  Abdication."  replied  the  officer.  "  And  what  will  follow  abdi- 
cation?" inf|uirc(l  tlie  queen.  The  municipal  officer  bowed  in 
silence.     At  this  moment  Rccderer  arrived    and  increased  the  alarm 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLE  195 

1792 

of  the  court  by  announcing  that  the  danger  was  extreme,  that  the 
insurgents  would  not  be  treated  with,  and  that  the  national  guard 
could  not  be  depended  upon.  "  Sire,"  said  he  urgently,  "  your 
majesty  has  not  five  minutes  to  lose:  your  only  safety  is  in  the 
national  assembly;  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  department  that  you 
ought  to  repair  thither  without  delay.  There  are  not  sufficient 
men  in  the  court  to  defend  the  chateau ;  nor  are  we  sure  of  them. 
At  the  mention  of  defense  the  artillerymen  discharged  their  can- 
non." The  king  replied,  at  first,  that  he  had  not  observed  many 
people  on  the  Carrousel;  and  the  queen  rejoined  with  vivacity  that 
the  king  had  forces  to  defend  the  chateau.  But,  at  the  renewed 
urgency  of  Roederer,  the  king,  after  looking  at  him  attentively  for 
a  few  minutes,  turned  to  the  queen  and  said  as  he  rose :  "  Let  us 
go."  "  Monsieur  Roederer,"  said  Madame  Elizabeth,  addressing 
the  recorder,  "you  answer  for  the  life  of  the  king?"  "Yes, 
madame,  with  my  own,"  he  replied.  "  I  will  walk  immediately 
before  him." 

Louis  XVL  left  his  chamber  with  his  family,  ministers,  and 
the  members  of  the  department,  and  announced  to  the  persons  as- 
sembled for  the  defense  of  the  chateau  that  he  was  going  to  the 
national  assembly.  He  placed  himself  between  two  ranks  of 
national  guards  summoned  to  escort  him  and  crossed  the  apart- 
ments and  garden  of  the  Tuileries,  A  deputation  of  the  assembly, 
apprised  of  his  approach,  came  to  meet  him.  "  Sire,"  said  the  presi- 
dent of  this  deputation,  "  the  assembly,  eager  to  provide  for  your 
safety,  offers  you  and  your  family  an  asylum  in  its  bosom."  The 
procession  resumed  its  march  and  had  some  difficulty  in  crossing 
the  terrace  of  the  Tuileries,  which  was  crowded  with  an  animated 
mob  breathing  forth  threats  and  insults.  The  king  and  his  family 
had  great  difficulty  in  reaching  the  hall  of  the  assembly,  where  they 
took  the  seats  reserved  for  the  ministers.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  the 
king,  "  I  come  here  to  avoid  a  great  crime ;  I  think  I  cannot  be 
safer  than  with  you."  "  Sire,"  replied  Vergniaud,  who  filled  the 
chair,  "  you  may  rely  on  the  firmness  of  the  national  assembly.  Its 
members  have  sworn  to  die  in  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  people 
and  the  constituted  authorities."  The  king  then  took  his  seat  next 
the  president.  But  Chabot  reminded  him  that  the  assembly  could 
not  deliberate  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  and  Louis  XVL  retired 
with  his  family  and  ministers  into  the  reporter's  box  behind  the 
president,  wdience  all  that  took  place  could  be  seen  and  heard. 


196  THE     FRKXCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

All  motives  for  resistance  ceased  with  the  king's  departure. 
The  means  of  defense  had  also  been  diminished  by  the  departure 
of  the  national  guards  who  escorted  the  king.  The  gendarmerie 
left  their  posts  crying  "Vive  la  nation!"  The  national  guard 
began  to  move  in  favor  of  the  insurgents.  But  the  foes  were  con- 
fronted, and  although  the  cause  was  removed,  the  combat  never- 
theless commenced.  The  columns  of  the  insurgents  surrounded 
the  chateau.  The  Marseillese  and  Bretons  who  occupied  the  first 
rank  had  just  forced  the  Porte  Royale  on  the  Carrousel  and  entered 
the  court  of  the  chateau.  They  were  led  by  an  old  subaltern,  called 
Westermann.  a  friend  of  Danton  and  a  very  daring  man.  He 
ranged  his  force  in  battle  array,  and  approaching  the  artillerymen, 
induced  them  to  join  the  Alarseillese  with  their  pieces.  The  Swiss 
filled  the  windows  of  the  chateau  and  stood  motionless.  The  two 
bodies  confronted  each  other  for  some  time  without  making  an 
attack.  A  few  of  the  assailants  advanced  amicably,  and  the  Swiss 
threw  some  cartridges  from  the  windows  in  token  of  peace.  They 
penetrated  as  far  as  tlie  vestibule,  where  they  were  met  by  other 
defenders  of  the  chateau.  A  barrier  separated  them.  Here  the 
combat  began,  but  it  is  unknown  on  which  side  it  commenced.  The 
Swiss  discharged  a  murderous  fire  on  the  assailants,  who  were 
dispersed.  The  Place  du  Carrousel  was  cleared.  But  the  Marseillese 
and  Bretons  soon  returned  with  renewed  force;  the  Swiss  were 
fired  on  by  the  cannon  and  surrounded.  They  kept  their  posts 
until  they  received  orders  from  the  king  to  cease  firing.  The  ex- 
asperated mob  did  not  cease,  however,  to  pursue  them,  and  gave 
itself  up  to  the  most  sanguinary  reprisals.  It  now  became  a  mas- 
sacre rather  tlian  a  combat ;  and  the  crowd  perpetrated  in  the 
chateau  all  the  excesses  of  victory.  Some  of  the  Swiss  reached  the 
manege  and  were  imprisoned  by  the  assembly;  others  were  cut 
down  on  the  march  by  the  firing  from  windows  and  corners.  At 
the  Tuileries  the  worst  excesses  were  committed.  Everyone  be- 
longing to  the  male  sex,  even  to  the  kitchen  bo}',  was  massacred. 
The  women  came  near  sharing  the  same  fate. 

Xapoleon,  an  eye-witness,  says  that  the  Tuileries  were  stormed 
by  the  worst  canaille  of  Paris;  ^vlarat  spent  August  lo  in  a  cellar; 
Danton  and  Camille  Desmoulins  showed  themselves  for  a  moment, 
but  no  more.  Not  the  heroes  of  the  terror,  but  the  unadulterated 
rabble  of  Paris  did  all  the  work  of  August  lo. 

All  this  time  the  assembly  was   in  the  greatest  alarm.     The 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  197 

1792 

first  cannonade  filled  them  with  consternation.  As  the  firing  be- 
came more  frequent,  the  agitation  increased.  At  one  moment  the 
members  considered  themselves  lost.  An  officer  entering  the  hall 
hastily  exclaimed :  "  To  your  places,  legislators ;  we  are  forced ! '' 
A  few  rose  to  go  out.  "  No,  no,"  cried  others ;  "  this  is  our  post." 
The  spectators  in  the  gallery  exclaimed  instantly :  "  Vive  I'asseni' 
blee  nationale! "  and  the  assembly  replied:  "Vive  la  nation!" 
Shouts  of  victory  Avere  then  heard  without,  and  the  fate  of  mon- 
archy was  decided. 

The  assembly  instantly  made  a  proclamation  to  restore  tran- 
quillity, and  implore  the  people  to  respect  justice,  their  magistrates, 
the  rights  of  man,  liberty,  and  equality.  Apparently  the  assembly 
had  achieved  a  great  victory,  for  it  was  the  only  piece  of  the  old 
constitution  left. 

In  truth,  it  had  been  prostrated  by  the  rabble  as  completely 
as  royalty  itself.  A  deputation  from  the  commissaries  appeared 
before  the  bar  of  the  assembly.  Huguenin,  the  worthy  president 
of  the  sections,  says :  "  These  are  now  the  magistrates  of  the 
people.  Circumstances  rendered  our  election  necessary.  Legis- 
lators, we  come  here  in  the  name  of  the  people  to  concert  with 
you  the  measures  of  the  public  welfare."  Thus  the  sections  con- 
stituted themselves  another  national  representation.  He  goes  on : 
"  The  people  who  have  sent  us  have  charged  us  to  declare  to  you 
that  they  recognize  as  judge  over  the  extraordinary  measures  to 
which  they  were  driven  by  necessity  and  the  resistance  against  op- 
pression, only  the  French  people  united  into  the  primaries,  you 
and  our  sovereign." 

Guadet,  the  president  of  the  assembly,  replied:  "The  assem- 
bly does  you  honor ;  tlie  victory  applauds  your  zeal.  It  can  only 
see  in  you  good  citizens,  desirous  to  restore  peace,  tranquillity, 
and  order." 

The  multitude  and  their  chiefs  had  all  the  power  in  their 
hands,  and  were  determined  to  use  it.  The  new  municipality  came 
to  assert  its  authority.  It  was  preceded  by  three  banners,  inscribed 
with  the  words  "  Patrir,  libcrtc.  cgalitc."  Its  address  was  im- 
perious, and  concluded  by  demanding  the  deposition  of  the  king 
and  a  national  convention.  Deputations  followed,  and  all  ex- 
pressed the  same  desire,  or  rather  issued  the  same  command. 

The  assembly  felt  itself  compelled  to  yield;  it  would  not.  how- 
ever, take  upon  itself  the  deposition  of  the  king.     V^ergniaud  as- 


198  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


cended  the  tribune,  in  the  name  of  the  commission  of  twelve,  and 
said :  "  I  am  about  to  propose  to  you  a  very  rigorous  measure ;  I 
appeal  to  the  affliction  of  our  hearts  to  judge  how  necessary  it  is  to 
adopt  it  immediately."  This  measure  consisted  of  the  convocation 
of  a  national  assembly  elected  by  citizens  over  twenty-five  years  of 
ao-e  and  of  twelve  months'  residence,  the  dismissal  of  the  ministers, 
and  the  suspension  of  the  king.  The  assembly  adopted  it  unani- 
mously. The  Girondist  ministers  were  recalled;  the  celebrated  de- 
crees were  carried  into  execution,  about  four  thousand  nonjuring 
prists  were  exiled,  and  commissioners  were  dispatched  to  the  armies 
to  make  sure  of  them.  Louis  XVI.,  to  whom  the  assembly  had  at 
first  assigned  the  Luxembourg  as  a  residence,  was  transferred  as  a 
prisoner  to  the  Temple  by  the  all-powerful  commune,  under  the 
pretext  that  it  could  not  otherwise  be  answerable  for  the  safety  of 
his  person. 

Finally,  September  23  was  appointed  for  opening  the  ex- 
traordinary assembly,  destined  to  decide  the  fate  of  royalty.  But 
royalty  had  already  fallen  on  August  10,  1792,  that  day  marked  by 
the  insurrection  of  the  multitude  against  the  middle  class  and  the 
constitutional  throne,  as  July  14.  1789,  had  seen  the  insurrection  of 
the  middle  class  against  the  privileged  class  and  the  absolute  power 
of  the  crown.  On  August  10  began  the  dictatorial  and  arbitrary 
epoch  of  the  revolution.  Circumstances  becoming  more  and  more 
difficult  to  encounter,  a  vast  warfare  arose,  requiring  still  higher 
energy  than  ever,  and  that  energv  irregular,  because  popular,  ren- 
dered the  domination  of  the  lower  class  restless,  cruel,  and  op- 
pressive, llie  nature  of  the  question  was  then  entirely  changed ; 
it  was  no  longer  a  matter  of  liberty,  but  of  public  safety ;  and  the 
conventional  period,  from  the  end  of  the  constitution  of  1791  to 
the  time  when  the  constitution  of  the  year  IIL  established  the 
directory,  was  only  a  long  campaign  of  the  revolution  against 
parties  and  against  Europe.  It  was  scarcely  possible  it  should  be 
otherwise.  ''  '["he  revolutionary  movement  once  established,"  says 
De  ]\Iaislre,  in  his  "  Considerations  sur  la  France,"  "  France 
and  the  monarchy  could  only  be  saved  by  Jacobinism.  Our  grand- 
children, who  will  care  little  for  our  sufferings,  and  will  dance  on 
our  graves,  will  laugh  at  our  present  ignorance:  they  will  easily 
console  themselves  for  the  excesses  we  have  Avitnessed.  and  which 
will  have  pre-ei-vcd  the  integrity  of  the  finest  of  kingdoins." 

The  dc[)artmcnts  adhered  to  the  events  of  August   10.     The 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  199 

1792 

army,  which  shortly  afterward  came  under  the  influence  of  the 
revolution,  was  as  yet  of  constitutional  royalist  principles;  but  as 
the  troops  were  subordinate  to  parties,  they  would  easily  submit  to 
the  dominant  opinion.  The  generals,  second  in  rank,  such  as 
Dumouriez,  Custine,  Biron,  Kellermann,  and  Labourdonnaie,  were 
disposed  to  adopt  the  last  changes.  They  had  not  yet  declared  for 
any  particular  party,  looking  to  the  revolution  as  a  means  of 
advancement.  It  was  not  the  same  with  the  generals-in-chief. 
Luckner  floated  undecided  between  the  insurrection  of  August 
lo,  which  he  termed  "  a  little  accident  that  had  happened  to 
Paris  and  his  friend  Lafayette."  The  latter,  head  of  the  con- 
stitutional party,  firmly  adhering  to  his  oaths,  wished  still  to  de- 
fend the  overturned  throne  and  a  constitution  which  no  longer 
existed.  He  commanded  about  30,000  men,  who  were  devoted  to 
his  person  and  his  cause.  His  headquarters  were  near  Sedan.  In 
his  project  of  resistance  in  favor  of  the  constitution  he  concerted 
with  the  municipality  of  that  town,  and  tlie  directory  of  the  de- 
partment of  Ardennes,  to  establish  a  civil  center  round  which  all 
the  departments  might  rally.  The  three  commissioners,  Kersaint, 
Antonelle,  and  Peraldy,  sent  by  the  legislature  to  his  army,  were 
arrested  and  imprisoned  in  the  tower  of  Sedan.  The  reason  as- 
signed for  this  measure  was  that  the  assembly  having  been 
intimidated,  the  members  who  had  accepted  such  a  mission  were 
necessarily  but  the  leaders  or  instruments  of  the  faction  which  had 
subjugated  the  national  assembly  and  the  king.  The  troops  and 
the  civil  authorities  then  renewed  their  oath  to  the  constitution,  and 
Lafayette  endeavored  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  the  insurrection  of 
the  army  against  the  popular  insurrection. 

General  Lafayette  at  that  moment  thought,  possibly,  too  much 
on  the  past,  on  the  law,  and  the  common  oath,  and  not  enough  on 
the  really  extraordinary  position  in  whidi  France  then  was.  He 
only  saw  the  dearest  hopes  of  the  friends  of  liberty  destroyed,  the 
usurpation  of  the  state  by  the  multitude,  and  the  anarchical  reign 
of  the  Jacobins;  he  did  not  perceive  the  fatality  of  a  situation  which 
rendered  the  triumph  of  the  latest  comer  in  the  revolution  indis- 
pensable. It  was  scarcely  possible  that  the  bourgeoisie,  which  had 
been  strong  enough  to  overthrow  the  old  system  and  the  privileged 
classes,  but  which  had  reposed  after  that  victor3^  could  resist  the 
emigrants  and  all  Europe.  For  this  there  was  needed  a  new  shock, 
a  new  faith;  there  was  needed  a  numerous,  ardent,  inexhaustible 


200  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

class,  as  enthusiastic  for  August  lo  as  the  bourgeoisie  had  been  for 
July  14.  Lafayette  could  not  associate  with  this  party;  he  had 
combated  it,  under  the  constituent  assembly,  at  the  Champ  de 
Mars,  before  and  after  June  20.  He  could  not  continue  to  play  his 
former  part,  nor  defend  a  cause  just  in  itself,  but  condemned  by 
events,  without  compromising  his  country,  and  the  results  of  a 
revolution  to  which  he  was  sincerely  attached.  His  resistance,  if 
continued,  would  have  given  rise  to  a  civil  war  between  the  people 
and  the  army,  at  a  time  when  it  was  not  certain  that  the  combi- 
nation of  all  parties  would  suffice  against  a  foreign  war. 

It  was  August  19,  and  the  army  of  invasion,  having  left 
Coblentz  on  July  30,  was  ascending  the  Moselle  and  advancing  on 
that  frontier.  In  consideration  of  the  common  danger,  the  troops 
were  disposed  to  resume  their  obedience  to  the  assembly;  Luckner, 
who  at  first  approved  of  Lafayette's  views,  retracted,  weeping 
and  swearing,  before  the  municipality  of  Metz ;  and  Lafayette 
himself  saw  the  necessity  of  yielding  to  a  more  powerful  des- 
tiny. 

Lafayette  was  the  one  person  in  a  position  to  have  reversed 
the  wheel  of  events  in  Paris,  and  in  doing  that  the  majority  of  the 
people  would  perhaps  have  ranged  themselves  on  his  side.  The 
army  was  then  said  to  be  devoted  to  him.  If  he  had  appeared  in 
Paris  at  the  head  of  it,  a  large  part  of  the  national  guard  might 
have  joined  him.  If,  however,  the  attempt  had  failed,  he  would 
have  paid  for  it  with  his  head.  If  he  had  remained  quiet,  he  could 
not  have  been  reproached  for  it.  But  he  pursued  a  middle  course. 
He  ought  to  have  moved  upon  Paris  at  once  with  his  army.  In- 
stead, he  tried  to  bring  about  a  counter-revolution  by  influencing 
the  departments,  and  through  them  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon 
the  assembly  to  alter  its  course.  Not  a  single  department  stirred 
a  finger,  and  as  these  departments  did  nothing,  so  did  also  all  the 
rest  of  those  who  might  have  done  anything.  He  left  his  army, 
taking  upon  himself  all  the  responsibility  of  the  whole  insurrection. 
He  was  accompanied  by  Bureau-de-Pusy,  Latour-Maubourg,  Al- 
exander Lameth,  and  some  ofiicers  of  his  staff.  He  proceeded 
through  the  enemy's  posts  toward  Holland,  intending  to  go  to  the 
United  States,  his  adopted  country.  But  he  was  discovered  and 
arrested  with  liis  companions.  In  violation  of  the  rights  of  na- 
tions, he  was  treated  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  confined  first  in  the 
dungeons  of  Magdeburg,  and  then  by  the  Austrians  at  Olmiitz. 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  201 

1792 

The  English  parhament  itself  took  steps  in  his  favor;  but  it  was 
not  until  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio  that  Bonaparte  released  him 
from  prison.  During  four  years  of  the  hardest  captivity,  subject 
to  every  description  of  privation,  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  state  of 
his  country  and  of  liberty,  with  no  prospect  before  him  but  that  of 
perpetual  and  harsh  imprisonment,  he  displayed  the  most  heroic 
courage.  He  might  have  obtained  his  liberty  by  making  certain 
retractions,  but  he  preferred  remaming  buried  in  his  dungeon  to 
the  abandoning  in  the  least  degree  the  sacred  cause  he  had 
embraced. 

The  authors  of  the  events  of  August  lo  became  more  and 
more  divided,  having  no  common  views  as  to  the  results  which 
should  arise  from  that  revolution.  The  more  daring  party,  which 
had  got  hold  of  the  commune  or  municipality,  wished  by  means  of 
that  commune  to  rule  Paris ;  by  means  of  Paris,  the  national  assem- 
bly; and  by  means  of  the  assembly,  France.  After  having  effected 
the  transference  of  Louis  XVL  to  the  Temple,  it  threw  down  all 
the  statues  of  the  kings  and  destroyed  all  the  emblems  of  the 
monarchy.  The  department  exercised  a  right  of  superintendence 
over  the  municipality;  to  be  completely  independent,  it  abrogated 
this  right.  The  law  required  certain  conditions  to  constitute  a 
citizen;  it  decreed  the  cessation  of  these,  in  order  that  the  multitude 
might  be  introduced  into  the  government  of  the  state. 

The  revolutionary  commune  consisted  of  288  persons,  being 
six  persons  from  each  of  the  forty-eight  sections  of  Paris. 

The  reader  is  asked  to  observe  how  completely  the  legislative 
assembly  had  lost  control  of  events.  With  adroitness  the  revolu- 
tionary commune  had  made  itself  the  head  of  the  national  uprising. 
France  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  the  municipal  council, 
with  the  will  and  ability  to  organize,  was  the  only  power  in  France 
to  organize  her  that  she  might  cope  with  the  allied  powers.  It 
strove  to  concentrate  all  power  in  its  hands. 

The  following  demands,  in  the  name  of  the  commune,  were 
made:  (i)  a  law  of  urgency,  forbidding  every  Frenchman  to  leave 
the  country  while  it  was  in  danger;  (2)  the  sequestration  of  the 
property  of  those  who  acted  in  contravention  of  this  law;  (3)  the 
establishment  of  a  vigilance  committee  in  the  municipality. 

The  deposition  was  everywhere  discussed  in  the  most  direct 
manner.  Robespierre  in  a  speech  foreshacbjwed  the  committee 
government  of  the  terror,  saying:  "  The  root  of  all  evils  is  in  the 


202  TIIK     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


executive,  but  it  is  also  in  the  legislative.  The  deposition  of  the 
king  is  necessary,  but  who  will  govern  when  the  name  of  the  king 
has  disappeared?  ...  I  know  nothing  so  terrible  as  the  idea 
of  unlimited  power  put  in  tlie  hands  of  a  numerous  assembly,  even 
if  they  were  sages," 

At  the  same  lime  it  demanded  the  establishment  of  an  ex- 
traordinary tribunal  to  try  the  conspirators  of  August  lo.  As  the 
assembly  did  nut  prove  sufticiently  docile,  and  endeavored  by 
proclamations  to  recall  the  people  to  more  just  and  moderate  senti- 
ments, it  received  threatening  messages  from  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 
"  As  a  citizen,"  said  a  member  of  the  commune,  "  as  a  magistrate 
of  the  people,  I  cjme  to  announce  to  you  that  this  evening,  at  mid- 
night, the  tocsin  will  sound,  the  drum  beat  to  arms.  The  people 
are  weary  of  not  being  avenged;  tremble  lest  they  administer  jus- 
tice themselves."  "  U,  before  two  or  three  hours  pass,  the  foreman 
of  the  jury  be  not  named,"  said  another,  "  and  if  the  jury  be  not 
itself  in  a  condition  to  act,  great  calamities  will  befall  Paris."  To 
avert  the  threatened  outbreaks  the  assembly  was  obliged  to  appoint 
an  extraordinary  criminal  tribunal.  This  tribunal  condemned  a 
few  persons,  but  the  commune  having  conceived  the  most  terrible 
projects,  did  not  consider  it  sufficiently  expeditious. 

The  assembly,  under  the  intimidation  of  the  commune,  re- 
solved to  send  the  defenders  of  the  Tuileries  before  a  court-martial 
appointed  by  Santerre.  A  proclamation  of  the  council  declared : 
"All  the  guilty  ones  will  perish  on  the  scaffold."  On  the  15th 
Robespierre  declared  the  punishing  of  the  crimes  of  the  loth,  that 
is,  the  resistance  to  the  insurrectionary  mob,  not  sufficient,  and 
that  revenge  must  be  extended  to  all  traitors  and  conspirators. 
Robespierre  continued : 

"  Liberate  us  from  the  constituted  authorities.  Abolish  this 
twofold  degree  of  jurisdiction  which,  by  rendering  justice  slower, 
grants  immunity.  We  demand  the  guilty  ones  to  be  judged  in  a 
sovereign  manner  and  definitely,  by  commissioners  taken  from 
each  section." 

Ihe  assembly  tried  to  compromise  with  the  commune.  A 
deputation  (jf  the  commune  again  came  to  them,  and  they  were  told 
tliat  if  they  did  not  at  once  do  that,  the  tocsin  would  ring  again, 
the  people  rise  once  more,  to  destroy  the  national  assembly  as  they 
had  destroyed  royalty.  The  assembly  could  not  defy  such  argu- 
ments for  any  length  (jf  time,  and  the  first  revolutionary  tribunal 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  203 

1792 

was  established  in  the  way  demanded  by  the  commune.  Four  days 
afterward  its  first  victim's  head  was  severed  by  the  guillotine.  On 
the  following  days  others  were  sent  to  the  scaffold.  The.  system 
of  hostages  was  introduced  methodically  and  to  an  appalling  extent. 
Wives  and  near  relatives  of  emigrants  accused  for  political  crimes 
were  seized  in  order  to  induce  the  accused  to  deliver  themselves  into 
the  hands  of  their  persecutors.  The  wife  of  Lafayette  was  one  of 
the  first  to  be  arrested. 

The  national  guard  was  dissolved.  A  new  organization  was 
effected,  companies  taking  the  place  of  battalions.  The  better 
classes  were  allowed  to  leave  the  ranks,  some  being  even  expelled. 

By  the  law  of  August  1 1  the  police  was  rendered  completely 
the  tool  of  the  commune. 

Article  one  of  the  new  law  made  it  the  duty  of  the  municipal- 
ity to  search  for  crimes  against  the  security  of  the  state.  Article 
two  invited  the  citizens  to  denounce  the  conspirators  and  suspected. 
Article  three  authorized  the  arrest  of  those  who  had  l^een  thus 
denounced.  Article  eiglit  authorized  every  public  official  and 
active  citizen  to  bring  before  the  municipality  such  persons. 

The  question  of  the  reorganization  of  the  department  brought 
about  a  conflict  between  the  two  authorities.  The  departmental 
government  had  been  cashiered  by  the  commune,  and  the  assembly 
had  submitted  to  that,  but  had  at  the  same  time  ordered  a  new 
election.  The  commune  advised  the  sections  not  to  go  to  the  polls. 
The  sections  obeyed,  and  the  rural  meml)ers  elected  were  not 
enough  to  constitute  a  quorum.  But  tlie  sections  abandoned  their 
passive  resistance  to  the  assembly,  and  the  Hotel  de  Ville  was  com- 
pelled to  adopt  more  energetic  measures.  Robespierre  appeared  at 
the  bar  of  the  assembly  and  said  the  sections  had  been  "  forced  to 
take  the  most  vigon^us  measures  to  save  the  state,  those  whom  they 
had  elected  to  be  tlieir  officials  must  have  the  fullness  of  power  be- 
longing to  the  sovereign.  After  tlie  people  have  saved  the  country, 
after  you  hrive  convoked  a  national  convention,  what  else  can  be 
your  business  but  to  obey  the  demands  of  the  people?" 

At  the  head  of  the  commune  were  Marat,  Panis,  Sergent, 
Duplain,  Lefent,  Jourdeuil,  Collot  dTIerbois,  Billaud-Varennes, 
and  Tallien;  but  the  c]u"cf  leader  of  the  party  at  that  time  was 
Danton.  ITe  was  a  gigantic  revolutionist;  he  deemed  no  means 
censurable  so  tliey  were  useful,  and  according  to  him  men  could 
do  whatever  tlic\'  dared  attempt.     Danton.   who  has  been  termed 


204.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


the  Mirabeaii  of  the  populace,  bore  a  physical  resemblance  to  that 
tribune  of  the  lii§:her  classes ;  he  had  irregular  features,  a  powerful 
voice,  impetuous  gesticulation,  a  daring  eloquence,  a  lordly  brow. 
Their  vices,  too,  were  the  same,  only  Mirabeau's  were  those  of  a 
patrician,  Danton's  those  of  a  democrat;  that  which  there  was  of 
daring  in  the  conceptions  of  Mirabeau  was  to  be  found  in  Danton, 
but  in  another  way,  because  in  the  revolution  he  belonged  to  an- 
other class  and  another  epoch.  Ardent,  overwhelmed  with  debts 
and  wants,  given  up  to  his  party,  he  was  formidable  while  in  the 
pursuit  of  an  object,  but  became  indifferent  as  soon  as  he  had 
obtained  it.  This  powerful  demagogue  presented  a  mixture  of  the 
most,  opposite  qualities.  He  did  not  seem  sordid ;  he  was  one  of 
those  who,  so  to  speak,  give  an  air  of  freedom  even  to  baseness.  He 
was  an  absolute  exterminator,  without  being  personally  ferocious ; 
inexorable  toward  masses,  humane,  even  generous  toward  individ- 
uals. At  the  time  the  commune  was  arranging  the  massacre  of 
September  21,  he  saved  all  who  applied  to  him;  he,  of  his  own  ac- 
cord, released  from  prison  Duport,  Barnave,  and  Charles  Lameth, 
his  personal  antagonists.  Revolution,  in  his  opinion,  w^as  a  game 
at  which  the  conqueror,  if  he  required  it,  won  the  life  of  the 
conquered.  The  welfare  of  his  party  was,  in  his  eyes,  superior 
to  law  and  even  to  humanity;  this  will  explain  his  endeavors 
after  August  10,  and  his  return  to  moderation  when  he  considered 
the  republic  established.  Danton  came  of  a  provincial  bourgeoisie 
family  in  comfortable  circumstances ;  was  educated  by  the  Orato- 
rians,  learning  Latin,  English,  and  Italian;  entered  the  law  in  1785  ; 
in  1787  became  avocat-en-conseils-du-roi,  and  when  the  revolution 
suppressed  the  offices  of  the  old  regime  Danton  was  indemnified 
in  the  sum  of  seventy  thousand  livres.  His  revolutionary  activity 
began  with  the  Cordelier  Club.  He  played  a  prominent  part  in 
the  events  preceding  June  20,  1791,  and  was  made  procureur-sub- 
stitut  of  Paris  as  a  reward  for  his  services.  He  was  not  dissolute, 
as  Mirabeau.  He  had  the  disposal  of  large  sums  of  money  and 
was  a  careless  accountant ;  but  he  probably  never  filched  a  sou ;  tlie 
assertion  that  "  he  had  sold  himself  to  the  court  "  is  unfounded. 
With  the  outward  semblance  of  a  demagogue  in  many  particulars, 
Danton  is  second  only  to  Mirabeau  as  the  statesman  of  the  French 
Revolution.     He  was  a  great  man.^" 

'"  .See   Bclloc,  "  Danton."   London,   1899.  a  capital  book ;   Aulard,  "  Les  ora- 

tcurs  dc  I'Asscmblcc  legislative  et  de  la  convention." 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  205 

1792 

At  this  period  the  Prussians,  advancing-  on  the  plan  of 
invasion  already  described,  passed  the  frontier  after  a  march  of 
twenty  days.  The  army  of  Sedan  was  without  a  leader  and  in- 
capable of  resisting  a  force  so  superior  in  numbers  and  so  much 
better  organized.  On  August  20  Longwy  was  invested  by  the 
Prussians;  on  the  21st  it  was  bombarded,  and  on  the  24th  it  capitu- 
lated. On  the  30th  the  hostile  army  arrived  before  Verdun, 
invested  it,  and  began  to  bombard  it.  Verdun  taken,  the  road  to 
the  capital  was  open.  The  taking  of  Longwy,  and  the  approach  of 
so  great  a  danger,  threw  Paris  into  the  utmost  agitation  and 
alarm. 

The  taking  of  Longwy  opened  the  people's  eyes  to  how  badly 
France  was  prepared  for  war.  The  assembly  decreed  that  ( i )  it 
should  be  a  crime  to  speak,  in  a  besieged  city,  of  surrender;  (2) 
all  persons  living  in  Long\vy  at  the  time  of  its  surrender  should 
have  their  political  rights  taken  from  them,  criminal  suits  insti- 
tuted against  them,  and  the  commander  be  sent  to  court-martial. 

The  executive  council,  composed  of  the  ministers,  was  sum- 
moned by  the  committee  of  general  defense  to  deliberate  on  the 
best  measures  to  be  adopted  in  this  perilous  conjuncture.  Some 
proposed  to  wait  for  the  enemy  under  the  walls  of  the  capital,  oth- 
ers to  retire  to  Saumur.  "  You  are  not  ignorant,"  said  Danton, 
when  his  turn  to  speak  arrived,  "  that  France  is  Paris ;  if  you 
abandon  the  capital  to  the  foreigner,  you  surrender  yourselves,  and 
you  surrender  France.  It  is  in  Paris  that  we  must  defend  ourselves 
by  every  possible  means.  I  cannot  sanction  any  plan  tending  to 
remove  you  from  it.  The  second  project  does  not  appear  to  me 
anv  better.  It  is  impossible  to  think  of  fighting  under  the  walls  of 
the  capital.  The  loth  of  August  has  divided  France  into  two 
parties,  the  one  attached  to  royalty,  the  other  desiring  a  republic. 
The  latter,  the  decided  minority  of  which  in  the  state  cannot  be 
concealed,  is  the  only  one  on  wliicli  you  can  rely  to  fight;  the  other 
will  refuse  to  march ;  it  will  excite  Paris  in  favor  of  the  foreigner, 
while  your  defenders,  placed  between  two  fires,  will  perish  in  re- 
pelling him.  Should  thev  fall,  which  seems  to  me  beyond  a  doubt, 
your  ruin  and  that  of  France  are  certain ;  if,  contrary  to  all  expec- 
tation, they  return  victorious  over  the  coalition,  this  victory  will 
still  be  a  defeat  for  you  ;  for  it  will  have  cost  you  thousands  of  brave 
men.  while  the  rr)valists.  more  numerous  than  you.  will  have  lost 
nothi?ig  of  their  strength  and  infiuence.     It  is  my  opinion    that  to 


206  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


disconcert  their  measures  and  stop  the  enemy  we  must  make  the 
royalists  fear."  The  committee,  at  once  understanding  the  mean- 
ing of  these  words,  were  thrown  into  a  state  of  consternation. 
"  Yes,  I  tell  you,"  resumed  Danton,  "  we  must  make  them  fear." 
As  the  committee  rejected  this  proposition  by  a  silence  full  of  alarm, 
Danton  concerted  with  the  commune.  His  aim  was  to  put  down 
its  enemies  by  terror,  to  involve  the  multitude  more  and  more  by 
making  them  his  accomplices,  and  to  leave  the  revolution  no  other 
refuge  than  victory^ 

It  became  more  apparent  that  the  only  alternative  for  the  com- 
mune was  to  crush  all  its  adversaries  with  one  terrible  blow  or  to 
be  crushed  itself.  The  courage  of  the  assembly  to  join  issue  with 
the  commune  increased  every  day.  There  was  a  growing  dissatis- 
faction among  the  sections  themselves.  Several  recalled  their  rep- 
resentatives from  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  It  is  a  question  whether  the 
honor  of  the  first  idea  of  the  use  of  terror  belongs  to  Danton  or  to 
Alarat.  Marat  was  half  mad,  but  with  remarkable  skill  he  wrapped 
himself  in  a  mysterious  veil  of  eccentricities  which  exercised  a  most 
powerful  charm  over  the  masses.  He  spoke  for  "  liberty  by  the 
liberating  alliance  of  assassination  with  dictatorship." 

On  August  28  Danton  had  hurried  to  the  assembly  and  de- 
manded to  be  heard.  "  Our  enemies  have  taken  Longwy.  But 
France  is  not  Longwy.  Only  by  a  great  revolution  have  we  anni- 
hilated despotism  in  the  capital ;  only  by  a  national  revolution  can 
the  despots  be  repelled.  Everything  must  be  put  at  the  disposal  of 
the  municipality,  and  the  barriers  must  be  opened  to  bring  the  capi- 
tal again  into  free  communication  with  the  country.  The  suspects 
must  be  seized.  The  houses  must  be  searched  for  arms."  The 
assembly  yielded.  Every  section  appointed  commissioners  for  the 
house  visitation.  Seven  hundred  houses  were  searched.  Nobody 
paid  the  slightest  attention  to  the  provisions  of  the  decree.  Who- 
ever had  money,  whoever  was  thought  fit  prey  for  the  September 
massacres,  was  arrested.  Statements  of  arrests  vary  from  3000  to 
8000. 

The  commune  and  Danton  saw  that  the  only  way  to  maintain 
themselves  for  the  moment  and  to  make  sure  of  the  future  was 
through  terror.  This  is  the  key  to  the  September  murders. 
Marat's  idea,  if  it  was  his  originally,  w-as  not  only  accepted,  but 
developed  systematically  on  a  gigantic  scale. 

The   pretext   of  action   was   the   resolution   of   the   assemblv. 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  S07 

1792 

which  had  decided  to  put  into  operation  the  law  which  the  king 
had  vetoed  against  the  priests  who  did  not  take  the  required  oath. 
Those  who  would  not  do  this  were  required  to  take  their  passports 
and  make  for  the  frontier.  But  when  they  came  to  get  them  they 
were  cast  into  prison,  or  rather,  as  was  said  at  the  time,  brought  to 
"  places  of  detention," 

The  commune  demanded  that  the  prisoners  at  Orleans  also 
should  be  brought  to  Paris,  but  the  assembly  would  not  comply. 
So  looo  federates  and  national  guards  left  for  Orleans  to  massacre 
the  prisoners.  The  assembly  ordered  the  cabinet  to  send  troops  for 
their  protection.  The  cabinet,  however,  intrusted  this  task  to  the 
band  which  had  just  gone  out  to  murder  them. 

Domiciliary  visits  were  made  with  great  and  gloomy  cere- 
mony ;  a  large  number  of  persons  whose  condition,  opinions,  or  con- 
duct rendered  them  objects  of  suspicion  were  thrown  into  prison. 
These  unfortunate  persons  were  taken  especially  from  the  two 
dissentient  classes,  the  nobles  and  the  clergy,  who  were  charged 
w'ith  conspiracy  under  the  legislative  assembly.  All  citizens  ca- 
pable of  bearing  arms  were  enrolled  in  the  Champ  de  Mars  and 
departed  on  September  i  for  the  frontier.  The  generale  was  beat, 
the  tocsin  sounded,  cannon  were  fired,  and  Danton,  presenting 
himself  to  the  assembly  to  report  tlie  measures  taken  to  save  the 
country,  exclaimed:  "  The  cannon  you  hear  are  no  alarm  cannon, 
but  the  signal  for  attacking  the  enemy!  To  conquer  them,  to  pros- 
trate them,  what  is  necessary?  Daring,  again  daring,  and  still 
again  and  ever  daring!  " 

Intelligence  of  the  taking  of  Verdun  arrived  during  the  night 
of  September  i.  The  commune  availed  themselves  of  this  mo- 
ment, when  Paris,  filled  with  terror,  thought  it  saw  the  enemy  at 
its  gates,  to  execute  their  fearful  projects.  The  cannon  were  again 
fired,  the  tocsin  sounded,  the  barriers  were  closed,  and  the  massacre 
began. 

During  three  davs  the  pr!S(.)iuTs  confined  in  the  Carmes,  the 
Abbaye,  the  Conciergcrie,  and  La  Force,  were  slaughtered  by  a 
band  of  about  three  hundred  assassins,  directed  and  paid  by  the 
commune.  This  body,  witli  a  calm  fanaticism,  prostituting  to 
murder  the  sacred  forms  of  justice,  now  judges,  now  executioners, 
seemed  rather  to  be  practicing  a  calling  tlian  to  be  exercising  ven- 
geance :  they  massacred  without  question,  without  remorse,  with  the 
conviction  of  fanatics  and  the  obedience  of  executioners.      If  some 


208  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

peculiar  circumstances  seemed  to  move  them,  and  to  recall  them 
to  sentiments  of  humanity,  to  justice,  and  to  mercy,  they  yielded  to 
the  impression  for  a  moment,  and  then  began  anew.  In  this  way  a 
few  persons  were  saved ;  but  they  were  very  few.  The  assembly 
desired  to  prevent  the  massacres,  but  were  unable  to  do  so.  The 
ministry  were  as  incapable  as  the  assembly;  the  terrible  commune 
alone  could  order  and  do  everything;  Petion,  the  mayor,  had  been 
cashiered;  the  soldiers  placed  in  charge  of  the  prisoners  feared  to 
resist  the  murderers,  and  allowed  them  to  take  their  own  course; 
the  crowd  seemed  indifferent,  or  accomplices ;  the  rest  of  the  citi- 
zens dared  not  even  betray  their  consternation.  We  might  be 
astonished  that  so  great  a  crime  should,  with  such  deliberation,  have 
been  conceived,  executed,  and  endured,  did  we  not  know  what  the 
fanaticism  of  party  will  do,  and  what  fear  will  suffer.  But  the 
chastisement  of  this  enormous  crime  fell  at  last  upon  the  heads  of 
its  authors.  The  majority  of  them  perished  in  the  storm  they  had 
themselves  raised,  and  by  the  same  violent  means  that  they  had 
themselves  employed.  Men  of  party  seldom  escape  the  fate  they 
have  made  others  undergo.^^ 

The  executive  council,  directed,  as  to  military  operations,  bv 
General  Servan,  advanced  the  newly  levied  battalions  toward  the 
frontier.  As  a  man  of  judgment,  he  was  desirous  of  placing  a 
general  at  the  threatened  point ;  but  the  choice  was  difficult. 
.'\mong  the  generals  who  had  declared  in  favor  of  the  late  political 
events  Kellermann  seemed  only  adapted  for  a  subordinate  com- 
mand, and  the  authorities  had  therefore  merely  placed  him  in  the 
room  of  the  vacillative  and  incompetent  Luckner.  Custine  was  but 
little  skilled  in  his  art;  he  was  fit  for  any  dashing  coup  de  main, 
but  not  for  the  conduct  of  a  great  army  intrusted  with  the  destiny 
of  France.  The  same  military  inferiority  was  chargeable  upon 
P>iron,  Labourdonnaie,  and  the  rest,  who  were  therefore  left  at  their 

Ji  Probably  1500  persons  perished.  Mortimer  Ternaux  proves  that  1368  per- 
sons perished. — "La  Tcrrcur,"  vol.  III.  p.  297  ff. 

'\  he  assembly  declared  the  commune  dissolved.  The  commune  addressed 
the  assembly  and  declared  that  it  had  saved  the  country.  For  an  ingenious 
justification  of  these  massacres  the  reader  is  recommended  to  Gronlund,  ''  Ca 
ira,"  pp.  S9-93.  See  also  Fletcher's  Carlyle,  "  French  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  pp. 
324-326;  Wallon,  "La  Tcrrcur!'  vol.  I.  pp.  31-45:  Von  Sybel,  "History  of  the 
French  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  pp.  67-104;  Taine,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  II. 
pp.  219-233:  Stephens.  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  T[.  pp.  139-150;  Mortimer  Ter- 
naux, "  Ilistoirc  dc  la  Tcrrcur!'  vols.  III.  and  TV.;  P.uchez  et  Roux,  "  Histoire 
IhirlcmCHtairc!'  vol.  XVll.  pp.  331-475;  vol.  XVIII.  pp.  70-177. 


NATIONAL     A  S  S  E  ]\I  B  L  Y  209 

1792 

old  stations,  with  the  corps  under  their  command.  Dumouriez 
alone  remained,  against  whom  the  Girondists  still  retained  some 
rancor,  and  in  whom  they,  moreover,  suspected  the  ambitious 
views,  the  tastes,  and  character  of  an  adventurer,  while  they  ren- 
dered justice  to  his  superior  talents.  However,  as  he  was  the  only 
general  equal  to  so  important  a  position,  the  executive  council  gave 
him  the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Moselle. 

Dumouriez  repaired  in  all  haste  from  the  camp  at  Maulde  t(j 
that  of  Sedan.  He  assembled  a  council  of  war,  in  which  the  gen- 
eral opinion  was  in  favor  of  retiring  toward  Chalons  or  Reims,  and 
covering  themselves  with  the  Marne.  Far  from  adopting  this  dan- 
gerous plan,  which  would  have  discouraged  the  troops,  given  up 
Lorraine,  the  three  bishoprics  of  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun,  and  a 
part  of  Champagne,  and  thrown  open  the  road  to  Paris,  Dumouriez 
conceived  a  project  full  of  genius.  He  saw  that  it  was  necessary, 
by  a  daring  march,  to  advance  on  the  forest  of  Argonne,  where  he 
might  infallibly  stop  the  enemy.  This  forest  had  four  issues ;  that 
of  the  Chene-Populeux  on  the  left,  those  of  the  Croix-au-Bois  and 
of  Grandpre  in  the  center,  and  that  of  Les  Islettes  on  the  right, 
which  opened  or  closed  the  passage  into  France.  The  Prussians 
were  only  six  leagues  from  the  forest,  and  Dumouriez  had  twelve 
to  pass  over,  and  his  design  of  occupying  it  to  conceal,  if  he  hoped 
for  success.  He  executed  his  project  skillfully  and  boldly.  Gen- 
eral Dillon,  advancing  on  the  Islettes,  took  possession  of  them  witli 
7000  men ;  he  himself  reached  Grandpre,  and  there  established  a 
camp  of  13,000  men.  The  Croix-au-Bois  and  the  Qiene-Populeux 
were  in  like  manner  occupied  and  defended  by  some  troops.  It 
was  here  that  he  wrote  to  the  minister  of  war.  Servan  :  "  Verdun 
is  taken;  I  await  the  Prussians.  The  camps  of  Grandpre  and  Les 
Islettes  are  the  ThermopyLx  of  France ;  but  I  shall  be  more  fortu- 
nate than  Leonidas." 

In  this  position  Dumouriez  might  have  stopped  the  enemy 
and  himself  have  securely  awaited  the  succors  wliich  were  on  their 
road  to  him  from  every  part  of  France.  The  various  battalions  of 
volunteers  repaired  to  the  camps  in  the  interior,  whence  they  were 
dispatched  to  his  armv  as  soon  as  they  were  at  all  in  a  state  of 
discipline.  Beurn()n\ille.  who  was  on  the  Flemish  frontier,  had 
received  orders  to  adwince  with  9000  men,  and  to  be  at  Rhetel,  on 
Dumouriez's  left,  l)v  Se])tember  13.  Duval  was  also  on  the  7th  to 
march  with  7000  men  to  tlie  Clicne-Populeux ;  and  Kellermann  was 


210  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

advancing  from  Metz,  on  his  right,  with  a  reinforcement  of  22,000 
men.      Time,  therefore,  was  all  that  was  necessary. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick,  after  taking  Verdun,  passed  the 
iMeuse  in  three  columns.  General  Clairfait  was  operating  on  his 
right  and  Prince  Ilohenlohe  on  his  left.  Renouncing  all  hope  of 
driving  Dumouriez  from  his  position  by  attacking  him  in  front,  he 
tried  to  turn  him.  Dumouriez  had  been  so  imprudent  as  to  place 
nearly  his  whole  force  at  Grandpre  and  the  Islettes,  and  to  put  only 
a  small  corps  at  Chene-Populeux  and  Croix-au-Bois — posts,  it  is 
true,  of  minor  importance.  The  Prussians,  accordingly,  seized 
upon  these,  and  were  on  tlie  point  of  turning  him  in  his  camp  at 
Grandpre,  and  of  thus  compelling  him  to  lay  down  his  arms.  After 
this  grand  blunder,  which  neutralized  his  first  maneuvers,  he  did 
not  despair  of  his  situation.  He  broke  up  his  camp  secretly  during 
the  night  of  September  14,  passed  the  Aisne,  the  approach  to  which 
might  have  been  closed  to  him,  made  a  retreat  as  able  as  his  advance 
on  the  Argonne  had  been,  and  concentrated  his  forces  in  the  camp  at 
Sainte-Menehould.  He  had  already  delayed  the  advance  of  the 
Prussians  at  Argonne.  The  season,  as  it  advanced,  became  bad. 
He  had  now  only  to  maintain  his  post  till  the  arrival  of  Kellermann 
and  Beurnonville,  and  the  success  of  the  campaign  would  be  cer- 
tain. The  troops  had  become  disciplined  and  inured,  and  the  army 
amounted  to  about  70,000  men,  after  the  arrival  of  Beurnonville 
and  Kellermann,  which  took  place  on  the  17th. 

The  Prussian  army  had  followed  the  movements  of  Du- 
mouriez. On  the  20th  it  attacked  Kellermann  at  Valmy,  in  order 
to  cut  off  from  the  French  army  the  retreat  on  Chalons.  There 
was  a  brisk  cannonade  on  both  sides.  The  Prussians  advanced  in 
columns  toward  the  heights  of  Valmy,  to  carry  them.  Kellermann 
also  formed  his  infantry  in  columns,  enjoined  them  not  to  fire,  but 
to  await  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and  charge  them  with  the 
bayonet.  He  gave  this  command  with  the  cry  of  "  Vive  la  nation!  " 
and  this  cry,  repeated  from  one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other,  startled 
the  Prussians  still  more  than  the  firm  attitude  of  the  troops.  The 
Duke  of  Brunswick  made  his  battalions,  already  a  little  shaken, 
retrograde;  the  firing  continued  till  the  evening;  the  enemy  at- 
tempted a  fresh  attack,  but  were  repulsed.  The  day  was  a  victory 
for  France,  and  the,  in  itself,  almost  insignificant  success  of  Valmy 
produced  on  the  troops  and  upon  opinion  in  France,  the  effect  of 
the  most  complete  victory. 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY 


211 


17»2 


From  the  same  epoch  may  be  dated  the  discouragement  and 
retreat  of  the  enemy.  The  Prussians  had  entered  upon  this  cam- 
paign on  the  assurance  of  the  emigrants  that  it  would  be  a  mere 
mihtary  promenade.  They  were  without  magazines  or  provisions; 
in  the  midst  of  a  perfectly  open  country  they  encountered  a  re- 
sistance each  day  more  energetic;  the  incessant  rains  had  broken 
up  the  roads ;  the  soldiers  marched  knee-deep  in  mud,  and,  for  four 


days  past,  boiled  corn  had  been  their  only  food.  Diseases,  pro- 
duced by  the  chalky  water,  want  of  clothing,  and  damp,  had  made 
great  ravages  in  the  army.  The  Duke  of  Brunswick  advised  a 
retreat,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  the  King  of  Prussia  and  the 
emigrants,  who  wished  to  risk  a  battle  and  get  possession  of 
Chfilons.  But  as  the  fate  of  the  Prussian  monarchy  depended  on 
its  army,  and  the  ruin  of  that  army  would  be  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  a  defeat,   the   Duke  of  Brunswick's  opinion  prevailed. 


212  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

Negotiations  were  opened,  and  the  Prussians,  abating  their  first 
demands,  now  only  required  tlie  restoration  of  the  king  upon  the 
constitutional  throne.  But  the  convention  had  just  assembled,  the 
republic  had  been  proclaimed,  and  the  executive  council  replied 
"  that  the  French  republic  could  listen  to  no  proposition  until  the 
Prussian  troops  had  entirely  evacuated  the  French  territory."  The 
Prussians,  upon  this,  commenced  their  retreat  on  the  evening  of 
September  30.^^  It  was  slightly  disturbed  by  Kellermann,  whom 
Dumouriez  sent  in  pursuit,  while  he  himself  proceeded  to  Paris  to 
enjoy  his  triumph  and  concert  measures  for  the  invasion  of  Bel- 
gium. 

Verdun  was  abandoned  by  the  allies  on  October  12,  and 
the  French  troops  reentered  it  and  Longwy ;  and  the  enemy,  after 
having  crossed  the  Ardennes  and  Luxembourg,  repassed  the  Rhine 
at  Coblentz,  and  by  October  23  the  last  of  the  invading  armies 
crossed  the  frontier.  This  campaign  had  been  marked  by  general 
success.  In  Flanders  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Teschen  had  been  com- 
pelled to  raise  the  siege  of  Lille.  This  siege  began  on  September 
16;  the  trenches  were  opened  on  September  29;  on  October  5  the 
siege  was  raised,  after  a  severe  bombardment,  contrary',  both  in  its 
duration  and  its  useless  barbarity,  to  all  the  usages  of  war.  On 
the  Rhine  Custine  had  taken  Treves,  Spires,  and  ]\Iayence.  In 
the  Alps,  General  Montesquiou  had  invaded  Savoy,  and  General 
Anselme  the  territory  of  Nice.  The  French  armies,  victorious  in 
all  directions,  had  everywhere  assumed  the  offensive,  and  the  revolu- 
tion was  saved. 

If  we  were  to  present  the  picture  of  a  state  emerging  from  a 
great  crisis,  and  were  to  say:  there  were  in  tliis  state  an  absolute 
government  whose  authority  has  been  restricted;  two  privileged 
classes  wliich  have  lost  their  supremacy;  a  vast  population,  already 
freed  by  the  effect  of  civilization  and  intelligence,  but  without  po- 
litical riglits,  and  which  have  l>een  obliged,  by  reason  of  repeated 
refusals,  to  gain  these  for  themselves;  if  we  were  to  add:  the  gov- 

1-  The  time  between  September  22-28  had  been  filled  with  negotiations, 
Mignct  is  right  in  emphasizing  the  great  moral  etYect  of  Valmy.  (See  Fyffe, 
"Modern  luirope,"  vol.  I.  p.  46  ff.)-  But  otherwise  Dumouriez's  position  was 
still  a  dangerous  one,  and  his  negotiations  were  protracted  in  order  to  give  time 
for  recruits  to  join  him.  In  addition  to  the  causes  mentioned  by  Mignet  which 
induced  the  retirement  of  the  allies,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  Austrians  were 
concerned  over  Belgium  and  that  the  Prussian  anxiety  over  the  Polish  situation 
was  incr  a-^uig.  (Jn  the  demoralization  of  the  Prussian  hi)St,  see  the  interesting 
note  in  i-'K-lc-l.iv-'s  C'arlyl:-,  "  l-'rench  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  jj.  3.}  i .  note  2. 


NATIONAL     ASSEMBLY  213 

1792 

ernment,  after  opposing  this  revolution,  submitted  to  it,  but  the 
privileged  classes  constantly  opposed  it,  it  might  probably  be  con- 
cluded from  these  data : 

The  government  will  be  full  of  regret,  the  people  will  exhibit 
distrust,  and  the  privileged  classes  will  attack  the  new  order  of 
things,  each  in  its  own  way.  The  nobility,  unable  to  do  so  at  home, 
from  its  weakness  there,  will  emigrate  in  order  to  excite  foreign 
powers,  who  will  make  preparations  for  attack;  the  clergy,  who 
would  lose  its  means  of  action  abroad,  will  remain  at  home,  where 
it  will  seek  out  foes  to  the  revolution.  The  people,  threatened  from 
without,  in  danger  at  home,  irritated  against  the  emigrants  who 
seek  to  arm  foreign  powers,  against  foreign  powers  about  to  attack 
its  independence,  against  the  clergy  who  excite  the  country  to  in- 
surrection, will  treat  as  enemies  clergy,  emigrants,  and  foreign 
powers.  It  will  require  first  surveillance  over,  then  the  banishment 
of  the  refractory  priests;  confiscation  of  the  property  of  the  emi- 
grants ;  war  against  coalesced  Europe,  in  order  to  forestall  it.  The 
first  authors  of  the  revolution  will  condemn  such  of  these  measures 
as  shall  violate  the  law ;  the  continuators  of  the  revolution  will,  on 
the  contrary,  regard  them  as  the  salvation  of  the  country;  and  dis- 
cord will  arise  between  those  who  prefer  the  constitution  to  the 
state  and  those  who  prefer  the  state  to  the  constitution.  The  mon- 
arch, induced  by  his  interests  as  king,  his  affections  and  his 
conscience,  to  reject  such  a  course  of  policy,  will  pass  for  an  accom- 
plice of  the  counter-revolution,  because  he  will  appear  to  protect  it. 
The  revolutionists  will  then  seek  to  gain  over  the  king  by  intimida- 
tion, and  failing  in  this,  will  overthrow  his  authority.^^ 

Such  was  the  history  of  the  legislative  assembly.  Internal 
disturbances  led  to  the  decree  against  the  priests ;  external  menaces 
to  that  against  the  emigrants;  the  coalition  of  foreign  powers  to 
war  against  Europe;  the  first  defeat  of  the  armies,  to  the  formation 
of  the  camp  of  twenty  thousand.  The  refusal  of  Louis  XVI.  to 
adopt  most  of  these  decrees  rendered  him  an  object  of  suspicion  to 
the  Girondists ;  the  dissensions  between  the  latter  and  the  constitu- 
tionalists, who  desired  some  of  them  to  be  legislators,  as  in  time  of 
peace,  others,  enemies,  as  in  time  of  war,  disunited  the  partisans  of 
the  revolution.  With  tlie  Girondists  the  question  of  liberty  was 
involved    in   victory,    and    victory    in    tlie   decrees.     June   20   was 

'■-'  With  this  estimate  tlie   reader  is  reeomniended  to  read  the  iiotahic  letter 
vi  Morris,  in  "Diary  and  Letter^,"  vol.  1.  I'p.  597-603. 


214  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

an  attempt  to  force  their  acceptance;  but  having  failed  in  its  ef- 
fect, they  deemed  that  either  the  crown  or  the  revolution  must  be 
renounced,  and  they  brought  on  August  lo.  Thus,  but  for  emi- 
gration which  induced  the  war,  but  for  the  schism  which  induced 
the  disturbances,  the  king  would  probably  have  agreed  to  the  con- 
stitution, and  the  revolutionists  would  not  have  dreamed  of  the 
republic. 


Chapter  VIII 

THE   NATIONAL    CONVENTION   AND   THE   TRIAL 

OF   LOUIS    XVL    SEPTEMBER   21,    1792- 

JANUARY   21,    1793 

THE  convention  constituted  itself  on  September  20,  1792, 
and  commenced  its  deliberations  on  the  21st.  There  were 
749  deputies  in  the  convention,  486  of  whom  were  new- 
members.  The  deputies  of  Paris  were :  Robespierre.  Danton,  Marat, 
Camille  Desmoulins,  Manuel,  Billaud-Varennes,  Collot  d'Herbois, 
Legendre,  Robert,  the  younger  Robespierre,  David,  Panis,  Sergent, 
Fabre  D'Eglantine,  Freron,  Osselin,  and  Philip  of  Orleans.  In  its 
first  sitting  it  abolislied  royalty  and  proclaimed  the  republic.  On 
the  22d  it  appropriated  the  revolution  to  itself,  by  declaring  it 
would  not  date  from  the  year  IV.  of  Liberty,  but  from  the  year  I.  of 
the  French  republic.  After  these  first  measures,  voted  by  acclama- 
tion, with  a  sort  of  rivalry  in  democracy  and  enthusiasm  in  the  two 
parties,  which  had  become  divided  at  the  close  of  the  legislative  as- 
sembly, the  convention,  instead  of  commencing  its  labors,  gave  itself 
up  to  intestine  quarrels.  The  Girondists  and  the  Mountain,  before 
they  established  the  new  revolution,  desired  to  know  to  which  of 
them  it  was  to  belong,  and  the  enormous  dangers  of  their  position 
did  not  divert  them  from  this  contest.  They  had  more  than  ever  to 
fear  the  efforts  of  Europe.  Austria,  Prussia,  and  some  of  the  Ger- 
man princes  having  attacked  France  before  August  10,  there  was 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  other  sovereigns  of  Europe  would 
declare  against  it  after  the  fall  of  the  monarchy,  the  imprisonment 
of  the  king,  and  the  massacres  of  September.  Within,  the  enemies  of 
the  revolution  had  increased.  To  the  partisans  of  the  ancient 
regime,  of  the  aristocracy  and  clergy,  were  now  to  be  added  the 
friends  of  constitutional  monarchy,  with  whom  the  fate  of  Louis 
XVI.  was  an  object  of  earnest  solicitude,  and  those  who  imagined 
liberty  impossible  without  order,  or  under  the  empire  of  the  multi- 
tude. Amid  so  many  obstacles  and  adversaries,  at  a  moment  when 
their  strictest  union  was  requisite,  the  Gironde  and  the  Mountain 
attacked  each  other  with  the  fiercest  animosity.  It  is  true  that  these 
two  parties   were   wholly   incompatible,   and   that   their   respective 

215 


216  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

leaders  could  not  combine,  so  strong  and  varied  were  the  grounds 
of  separation  in  their  rivalry  for  power,  and  in  their  designs.^ 

The  Girondists  found  that  during  the  course  of  the  late  events 
they  had  lost  the  assistance  of  the  constitutionalists  without  pro- 
curing that  of  the  democrats;  they  had  a  hold  upon  neither  extreme 
of  society.^  Accordingly,  they  only  formed  a  half  party,  which  was 
soon  overthrown,  because  it  had  no  root.  The  Girondists,  after 
August  ID,  were,  between  the  middle  class  and  the  multitude,  what 
the  monarchists,  or  the  Mounier  and  Necker  party,  had  been  after 
July  24,  between  the  privileged  classes  and  the  bourgeoisie. 

The  Mountain,  on  the  contrary,  desired  a  republic  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  leaders  of  this  party,  annoyed  at  the  credit  of  the  Giron- 
dists, sought  to  overthrow  and  to  supersede  them.  They  were  less 
intelligent  and  less  elocjuent,  but  abler,  more  decided,  and  in  no 
degree  scrupulous  as  to  means.  The  extremest  democracy  seemed 
to  them  the  best  of  governments,  and  what  they  termed  the  people, 
that  is,  the  lowest  populace,  was  the  object  of  their  constant  adula- 
tion and  most  ardent  solicitude.  No  party  was  more  dangerous; 
most  consistently,  it  labored  for  those  with  whom  it  fought. 

Ever  since  the  opening  of  the  convention  the  Girondists  had 
occupied  the  right  benches,  and  the  Mountain  party  the  summit 
of  the  left,  whence  the  name  by  which  they  were  designated.^  The 
Girondists  were  the  strongest  in  the  assembly;  the  elections  in  the 
departments  had  generally  been   in  their   favor.     A  great   num- 

1  Fyffe,  "  Modern  Europe,"  vol.  I.  pp.  48-49,  admirably  shows  the  difference 
between  these  parties,  although  both  were  republican : 

"  The  elections  were  held  in  the  crisis  of  invasion,  in  the  height  of  national 
indignation  against  the  alliance  of  the  aristocracy  with  the  foreigner,  and,  in 
some  districts,  under  the  influence  of  men  who  had  not  shrunk  from  ordering 
the  massacres  in  the  prisons.  At  such  a  moment  a  constitutional  royalist  had 
scarcely  more  chance  of  election  than  a  detected  spy  from  the  enemy's  camp. 
The  Girondins,  who  had  been  the  party  of  extremes  in  the  legislative  assembly, 
were  the  party  of  moderation  and  order  in  the  convention.  By  their  side  there 
were  returned  men  whose  whole  being  seems  to  be  compounded  out  of  the 
forces  of  conflict,  men  who,  sometimes  without  conscious  depravity,  carried  into 
political  and  social  struggles  that  direct,  unquestioning  employment  of  force 
which  has  ordinarily  been  reserved  for  war  or  for  the  diffusion  of  religious  doc- 
trines. The  moral  differences  that  separated  this  party  from  the  Gironde  were 
at  once  conspicuous:  the  political  creed  of  the  two  parties  appeared  at  first  to 
be  much  the  same." 

2  The  "  legend  "  of  the  Girondists  has  been  destroyed  by  Bire,  "  La  Legende 
dcs  Girondins,"  new  edition,  1896. 

■■'  The  reader  is  again  asked  to  note  how  the  Left  of  one  assembly  becomes 
the  Right  of  that  which  follows;  i.  e.,  the  revolution  grows  more  radical.  In 
course  of  time  the  Mountain  split  into  three  groups:  (i)  the  followers  of  Robes- 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI         217 

1792 

ber  of  the  deputies  of  the  legislative  assembly  had  been  reelected, 
and  as  connection  effects  much,  as  in  these  days  habit  and  associa- 
tion go  a  great  way,  the  members  who  had  been  united  with  the 
deputation  of  the  Gironde  and  the  commune  of  Paris  before  August 
ID  returned  with  the  same  opinions.  Others  came  without  any 
particular  system  or  party,  without  enmities  or  attachments;  these 
formed  what  was  then  called,  from  tlie  seats  they  occupied,  the  Plain 
or  the  Marsh.  This  party,  taking  no  interest  in  the  struggles  be- 
tween the  Gironde  and  the  ]\Iountain,  voted  with  the  side  they  con- 
sidered the  most  just,  so  long  as  they  were  allowed  to  be  moderate; 
that  is  to  say,  so  long  as  they  had  no  fears  for  themselves. 

The  Mountain  was  composed  of  deputies  of  Paris,  elected 
under  the  influence  of  the  commune  of  August  lo,  and  of  some 
very  decided  republicans  from  the  provinces ;  it,  from  time  to  time, 
increased  its  ranks  with  those  who  were  rendered  enthusiastic  by 
circumstances,  or  who  were  impelled  by  fear.  But  though  inferior 
in  the  convention  in  point  of  numbers,  it  was  none  the  less  very 
powerful,  even  at  this  period.  It  swayed  Paris ;  the  commune  was 
devoted  to  it,  and  the  commune  had  managed  to  constitute  itself 
the  supreme  authority  in  the  state.*  The  IMountain  had  sought  to 
master  the  departments  by  endeavoring  to  establish  an  identity  of 
views  and  conduct  between  the  municipality  of  Paris  and  the  pro- 
vincial municipalities;  they  had  not,  however,  completely  succeeded 
in  this,  and  the  departments*  were  for  the  most  part  favorable  to 
their  adversaries,  who  cultivated  their  good  will  by  means  of 
pamphlets  and  journals  sent  by  the  minister,  Roland,  whose  house 
the  Mountaineers  called  a  bureau  d'esprit  public,  and  whose  friends 
they  called  intrigants.  But  beside  this  junction  of  the  communes, 
which  sooner  or  later  would  take  place,  they  were  adopted  by  the 
Jacobins.  This  club,  the  most  influential  as  well  as  the  most  an- 
cient and  extensive,  changed  its  views  at  every  crisis  without 
changing  its  name ;  it  was  a  frame-work  ready  for  every  domi- 
nating power,  excluding  all  dissentients.     That  at  Paris  was  the 

pierre;  (2)  the  Dantonists;  (3)  the  Ilebertists,  or  representatives  of  the  revo- 
lutionary commune.  In  the  struggle  the  extremes  fall  first;  i.  e.,  the  Girondists 
on  the  Right,  then  the  Hebertists  on  the  extreme  Left,  then  the  Dantonists, 
and  finally  Robespierre. 

4  This  is  quite  true,  strong  as  the  statement  is.  Not  until  the  establishment 
of  the  committee  of  public  safety  was  the  convention  able  to  emancipate  itself 
from  the  dictatorship  of  the  commune.  (See  Mortimer  Ternaux,  "La  Tcrreur," 
vol.  IV.  p.  18  ff.).  But  the  convention  never  displayed  the  weakness  and  cow- 
ardice of  the  legislative  assembly,  and  finally  did  rise  superior  to  the  situation. 


£18  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

metropolis  of  Jacobinism,  and  governed  the  others  almost  im- 
periously. The  Mountaineers  had  made  themselves  masters  of  it; 
they  had  already  driven  the  Girondists  from  it  by  denunciation 
and  disgust,  and  replaced  the  members  taken  from  the  bourgeoisie 
by  sans-culottes.  Nothing  remained  to  the  Girondists  but  the 
ministry,  who,  thwarted  by  the  commune,  were  powerless  in  Paris. 
The  Mountaineers,  on  tlie  contrary,  disposed  of  all  the  effective 
force  of  the  capital,  of  the  public  mind  by  the  Jacobins,  of  the 
sections  and  faubourgs  by  the  sans-culottes,  of  the  insurrectionists 
by  the  municipality. 

The  first  measure  of  parties  after  having  decreed  the  republic 
was  to  contend  with  each  other.  The  Girondists  were  indignant 
at  the  massacres  of  September,  and  they  beheld  with  horror  on  the 
benches  of  the  convention  the  men  who  had  advised  or  ordered 
them.  Above  all  others,  two  inspired  them  with  antipathy  and 
disgust:  Robespierre,  whom  they  suspected  of  aspiring  to  tyranny, 
and  Marat,  who  from  the  commencement  of  the  revolution  had  in 
his  writings  constituted  himself  the  apostle  of  murder.  They  de- 
nounced Robespierre  with  more  animosity  than  prudence ;  'he  was 
not  yet  sufficiently  formidable  to  incur  the  accusation  of  aspiring 
to  the  dictatorship.  His  enemies  by  reproaching  him  with  inten- 
tions then  improbable,  and  at  all  events  incapable  of  proof,  them- 
selves augmented  his  popularity  and  importance. 

Robespierre  was  born  at  Arras  in  1759,  was  early  left  an 
orphan,  was  educated  by  the  Bishop  of  Arras  at  the  College  Louis- 
le-Grand  in  Paris,  and  became  a  lawyer  in  his  native  city.  His  pub- 
lic career  began  with  his  election  to  the  States  General  in  1789.  He 
was  ineligible  for  the  legislative  assembly,  but  was  offered  the  post 
of  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  criminal  tribunal  of  the  Seine.  This 
he  declined,  however,  to  become  the  political  leader  of  the  Jacobin 
Club.  In  1792  he  was  elected  to  the  convention  as  a  deputy  of  Paris, 
and  was  now  beginning  to  take  a  prominent  position.  Hitherto, 
despite  his  efforts,  he  had  had  superiors  in  his  own  party;  under  the 
constituent  assembly,  its  famous  leaders ;  under  the  legislative.  Bris- 
sot  and  Petion  ;  on  August  10,  Danton.  At  these  different  periods  he 
had  declared  himself  against  those  whose  renown  or  popularity  of- 
fended him.  Only  able  to  distinguish  himself  among  the  celebrated 
personages  of  the  first  assembly,  by  the  singularity  of  his  opinions 
he  had  shown  himself  an  exaggerated  reformer;  during  the  second 
he  became  a  constitutionalist,  because  his  rivals  were  innovators, 


MAXIM  ILIl'.N     MAklK    [.-indKF.    KOP.rSlM  EKRE 
(Horn     17  5^-      "■'■'>1     '794) 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI         219 

1792 

and  he  had  talked  in  favor  of  peace  to  the  Jacobins,  because  his 
rivals  advocated  war.  From  August  lo  he  essayed  in  that  club  to 
ruin  the  Girondists  and  to  supplant  Danton,  always  associating  the 
cause  of  his  vanity  with  that  of  the  multitude.  This  man,  of  or- 
dinary talents  and  vain  character,  owed  it  to  his  inferiority  to  rank 
with  the  last,  a  great  advantage  in  times  of  revolution;  and  his 
conceit  drove  him  to  aspire  to  the  first  rank,  to  do  all  to  reach  it, 
to  dare  all  to  maintain  himself  there. 

Robespierre  had  the  qualifications  for  tyranny;  a  soul  not 
great,  it  is  true,  but  not  common ;  the  advantage  of  one  sole  pas- 
sion, the  appearance  of  patriotism,  a  deserved  reputation  for  incor- 
ruptibility, an  austere  life,  and  no  aversion  to  the  effusion  of  blood. 
He  was  a  proof  that  amid  civil  troubles  it  is  not  mind,  but  conduct, 
that  leads  to  political  fortune,  and  that  persevering  mediocrity  is 
more  powerful  than  wavering  genius.  It  must  also  be  observed 
that  Robespierre  had  the  support  of  an  immense  and  fanatical  sect, 
whose  government  he  had  solicited,  and  whose  principles  he  had 
defended  since  the  close  of  the  constituent  assembly.  This  sect 
derived  its  origin  from  the  eighteenth  century,  certain  opinions  of 
which  it  represented.  In  politics  its  symbol  was  the  absolute  sov- 
eignty  of  the  "  Social  Contract  "  of  Rousseau,  and  for  creed  it 
held  the  deism  of  "  The  Profession  of  Faith  of  a  Savoyard  Vicar  "  ; 
at  a  later  period  it  succeeded  in  realizing  these  for  a  moment  in  the 
constitution  of  '93,  and  the  worsliip  of  the  Supreme  Being.  More 
fanaticism  and  system  existed  in  the  different  epochs  of  the  revolu- 
tion than  is  generally  supposed. 

Whether  the  Girondists  distinctly  foresaw  tlie  dominion  of 
Robespierre,  or  whether  they  suffered  themselves  to  be  carried 
away  by  their  indignation,  they  accused  him,  with  republicans,  of 
the  most  serious  of  crimes.  Paris  was  agitated  by  the  spirit  of 
faction;  the  Girondists  wished  to  pass  a  law  against  those  who 
excited  disorders  and  violence,  and  at  the  same  time  to  give  the 
convention  an  independent  force  (lcri\cd  from  the  eighty-three  de- 
partments. Thev  a])pointc(l  a  commission  to  jirc.ent  a  report  on 
this  subject.  The  Mountain  attacked  tliis  measure  as  injurious  to 
Paris:  the  Gironde  defended  it  by  pointing  out  the  project  of  a 
triumvirate  formed  bv  tlie  deputation  of  I'aris.  "  1  was  born  in 
Paris,"  said  Osselin ;  "T  am  deputy  for  that  town.  It  is  an- 
nounced that  a  party  is  formed  in  the  very  heart  of  it,  desiring  a 
dictatorship,  triumvirs,  and  tribunes.     I  declare  that  extreme  ig- 


220  T  II  K     F  11  i:  X  C  H     R  E  VOLUTION 

1792 

iiorance  or  profound  wickedness  alone  could  have  conceived  such 
a  project.  Let  the  member  of  the  deputation  of  Paris  who  has 
conceived  such  an  idea  be  anathematized !  "  *'  Yes,"  exclaimed 
Rebecqui  of  Marseilles,  "  yes,  there  exists  in  this  assembly  a  party 
which  aspires  at  the  dictatorship,,  and  I  will  name  the  leader  of  this 
partv:  Robespierre.  That  is  the  man  whom  I  denounce.*'  Bar- 
baroux  supported  this  denunciatidn  by  his  evidence;  he  was  one  of 
the  chief  authors  of  AujL,nist  lo;  he  was  the  leader  of  the  Marseil- 
Icse,  and  he  possessed  immense  influence  in  the  south.  He  stated 
that  about  August  lo  the  Marseillese  were  nuich  courted  by  the  two 
parties  who  divided  the  capital ;  he  was  brought  to  Robespierre's, 
and  there  he  was  told  to  ally  himself  to  those  citizens  who  had 
acquired  most  popularity  and  that  Panis  expressly  named  to  him, 
Robespierre,  as  the  virtuous  man  who  was  to  be  dictator  of  France. 
Barbaroux  was  a  man  of  action.  There  were  some  members  of 
the  Right  who  thought,  with  him,  that  they  ought  to  conquer  their 
adversaries  in  order  to  avoid  being  conquered  by  them.  They 
wished,  making  use  of  the  convention  against  the  commune,  to  op- 
pose the  departments  to  Paris,  and  while  they  remained  weak, 
by  no  means  to  spare  enemies,  to  whom  they  would  otherwise 
be  granting  time  to  become  stronger.  But  the  greater  number 
dreaded  a  rupture,  and  trembled  at  the  idea  of  energetic  measures. 
This  accusation  against  Robespierre  had  no  immediate  conse- 
quences ;  but  it  fell  back  on  Marat,  who  had  recommended  a  dic- 
tatorship in  his  journal  L'Auii  dn  Pcuplc,  and  had  extolled  the 
massacres.  When  he  ascended  the  tribune  to  justify  himself  a 
sliuddcr  of  horror  seized  the  assembly.  "  Down !  down !  "  re- 
sounded from  all  sides.  Marat  remained  imperturbable.  In  a 
momentary  pause  he  said :  "  T  have  a  great  number  of  personal 
enemies  in  this  assembly.  ["All!  all!'']  I  beg  of  them  to  re- 
member decorum ;  I  exhort  them  to  abstain  from  all  furious  clamors 
and  indecent  threats  against  a  man  who  has  served  liberty  and 
tliemselves  more  than  they  think  for.  For  once  let  them  learn  to 
listen."  And  this  man  delivered  in  the  midst  of  the  convention, 
astounded  at  his  audacity  and  sa)ig-froid,  his  views  of  the  proscrip- 
tions and  of  the  dictatorship.  For  some  time  he  had  fled  from 
cellar  to  cellar  to  a\'oid  public  anger  an.d  the  warrants  issued 
again-it  him.  Ills  sanguinary  journal  alone  appeared;  in  it  he 
demanded  heads  and  prepared  tlie  multitude  for  the  massacres  of 
Se[)tember.      There  is  no  folly  which  may  not  enter  a  man's  head. 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI  221 

1792 

and  what  is  worse,  which  may  not  be  realized  for  a  moment. 
Marat  was  possessed  by  certain  fixed  ideas.  The  revolution  had 
enemies,  and,  in  his  opinion,  it  could  not  last  unless  freed  from 
them ;  from  that  moment  he  deemed  nothing  could  be  more  simple 
than  to  exterminate  them  and  appoint  a  dictator,  whose  functions 
should  be  limited  to  proscribing;  these  two  measures  he  proclaimed 
aloud,  not  cruel,  but  indifferent ;  witii  no  more  regard  for  propriety 
than  for  the  lives  of  men,  and  despising  as  weak  minds  all  those  who 
called  his  projects  atrocious,  instead  of  considering  them  profound. 
The  revolution  had  actors  really  more  sanguinary  than  he,  but  none 
exercised  a  more  fatal  influence  over  his  times.  He  depraved  the 
morality  of  parties  already  sufficiently  corrupt ;  and  he  had  the  two 
leading  ideas  which  the  committee  of  public  safety  subsequently 
realized  by  its  commissioners  or  its  government — extermination  in 
mass,  and  the  dictatorship.^ 

]\rarat's  accusation  was  not  attended  with  any  results ;  he 
inspired  more  disgust,  but  less  hatred,  than  Robespierre ;  some 
regarded  him  as  a  madman ;  others  considered  these  debates  as 
the  quarrels  of  parties,  and  not  as  an  object  of  interest  for  the 
republic.  ^Moreover,  it  seemed  dangerous  to  attempt  to  purify  the 
convention  or  to  dismiss  one  of  its  members,  and  it  was  a  difficult 
step  to  get  over,  even  for  parties.  Danton  did  not  exonerate 
Marat.  "  I  do  not  like  him,"  said  he;  "  I  have  had  experience  of 
his  temperament;  it  is  volcanic,  crabbed,  nnd  unsociable.  But  why 
seek  for  the  language  of  a  faction  in  what  he  writes?  Has  the 
general  agitation  any  other  cause  than  that  of  tlie  revolutionary 
movement  itself,?  ''  Rcjbespierre,  on  liis  part,  protested  that  he  knew 
very  little  of  Marat;  that,  previ(jus  to  August  lo,  he  had  only  had 
one  conversation  with  him,  after  which  Marat,  whose  violent 
opinions  lie  did  not  a])pro\e,  had  considered  his  ])<ditical  views  so 
narrow  that  he  had  stated  in  his  journal  tliat  he  had  neither  the 
higher  views  nor  the  daring  of  a  statesman. 

But  he  was  the  object  of  much  greater  indignation  because 
he  was  more  dreaded.  The  first  accusation  of  Rebecqui  and  Bar- 
baroux  had  not  succeeded.  A  short  time  afterward  the  minister. 
Roland,  made  a  report  on  the  state  of  France  and  Paris;  in  it  he 
denounced  the  massacres  of  September,  the  encroachments  of  the 

'  The  rca<ier  will  find  the  salient  features  of  Marat's  life  and  copious  refer- 
ence to  authorities  in  Fletcher's  Carlyle,  "  l*"rench  Revolution,"  vol.  I.  pp.  07-69. 
See  also   Bclfort   Box,  ".Marat."    whirli   favMrably   regards  him. 


ooc,  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

'  1792 

coniminie.  and  the  proceedings  of  the  agitators.  "  When,"  said 
he,  "  they  render  the  wisest  and  most  intrepid  defenders  of  hberty 
odious  or  suspected,  when  principles  of  revolt  and  slaughter  are 
boldly  professed  and  applauded  in  the  assemblies,  and  clamors  arise 
against  the  convention  itself,  I  can  no  longer  doubt  that  partisans 
of  the  ancient  regime,  or  false  friends  of  the  people,  concealing  their 
extravagance  or  wickedness  under  a  mask  of  patriotism,  have  con- 
ceived the  plan  of  an  overthrow,  in  which  they  hope  to  raise  them- 
selves on  ruins  and  corpses,  and  gratify  their  thirst  for  blood,  gold, 
and  atrocity." 

He  cited,  in  proof  of  his  report,  a  letter  in  which  the  vice- 
president  of  the  second  section  of  the  criminal  tribunal  informed 
him  that  he  and  the  most  distinguished  Girondists  were  threatened; 
that,  in  the  words  of  their  enemies,  another  bleeding  was  wanted, 
and  that  these  men  would  hear  of  no  one  but  Robespierre. 

At  these  words  the  latter  hastened  to  the  tribune  to  justify 
himself.  "  No  one,"  he  cried,  "dare  accuse  me  to  my  face!  "  "  I 
dare!"  exclaimed  Louvet,  one  of  the  most  determined  men  of  the 
Gironde.  "  Yes,  Robespierre,"  he  continued,  fixing  his  eye  upon 
him,  "I  accuse  you!"  Robespierre,  hitherto  full  of  assurance, 
became  moved.  He  had  once  before,  at  the  Jacobins,  measured 
his  strength  with  this  formidable  adversary,  wdiom  he  knew  to  be 
witty,  impetuous,  and  uncompromising.  Louvet  now  spoke,  and  in 
a  most  eloquent  address  spared  neither  acts  nor  names.  He  traced 
the  course  of  Robespierre  to  the  Jacobins,  to  the  commune,  to  the 
electoral  assembly:  "calumniating  the  best  patriots;  lavishing  the 
basest  flatteries  on  a  few  hundred  citizens,  at  first  designated  as 
the  people  of  Paris,  afterw^ard  as  the  peojile  absolutely,  and  then 
as  the  sovereign ;  rci)eating  tlie  eternal  enumeration  of  his  own 
merits,  perfections,  and  virtues;  and  never  failing,  after  he  had 
dwelt  on  the  strengtli,  grandeur,  and  sovereignty  of  the  people,  to 
protest  that  he  was  the  people  too."  He  then  described  him  conceal- 
ing himself  on  August  lo.  and  afterward  swaying  the  conspirators 
of  the  commune.  Tlien  he  came  to  the  massacres  of  September, 
and  exclaimed:  "The  revolution  of  the  loth  of  August  belongs 
to  all !  "  and  added,  pointing  out  a  few  ^Mountaineers  of  the  com- 
mune, "  but  that  of  tlie  2d  of  September,  that  belongs  to  them — and 
to  none  but  tliem!  ]  hwc  ihcy  not  glorified  themselves  by  it?  They 
themsebes.  with  brutal  contempt,  only  designated  us  as  the  patriots 
of  the    lotli   of   August.      With    ferocious   pride  tliey   called    lhe?n- 


CONM'ENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI  223 

1792 

selves  the  patriots  of  the  2d  of  September!  Ah,  let  them  retain 
this  distinction  worthy  of  the  courage  peculiar  to  them ;  let  them 
retain  it  as  our  justification,  and  for  their  lasting  shame!  These 
pretended  friends  of  the  people  wish  to  cast  on  the  people  of  Paris 
the  horrors  that  stained  the  first  week  of  September.  They  have 
basely  slandered  them.  The  people  of  Paris  can  fight;  they  cannot 
murder!  It  is  true,  they  were  assembled  all  the  day  long  before 
the  chateau  of  the  Tuileries  on  the  glorious  loth  of  August;  it 
is  false  that  they  were  seen  before  the  prisons  on  the  horrible  2d 
of  September.  How  many  executioners  were  there  within?  Two 
hundred ;  probably  not  two  hundred.  And  without,  how  many 
spectators  could  be  reckoned  drawn  thither  by  truly  incompre- 
hensible curiosity?  At  most,  twice  the  number.  But,  it  is  asked, 
why.  if  the  people  did  not  assist  in  these  murders,  did  they  not 
hinder  them?  Why?  Because  Petion's  tutelary  authority  was  fet- 
tered ;  because  Roland  spoke  in  vain  ;  because  Danton,  the  minister 
of  justice,  did  not  speak  at  all,  .  .  .  because  the  presidents  of 
the  forty-eight  sections  waited  for  orders  the  general  in  command 
did  not  give;  because  municipal  officers,  wearing  their  scarfs,  pre- 
sided at  these  atrocious  executions.  But  the  legislative  assembly? 
the  legislative  assembly!  representatives  of  tlie  pe()j)le.  you  will 
avenge  it!  The  powerless  state  into  which  your  predecessors  were 
reduced  is,  in  the  midst  of  such  crimes,  the  greatest  for  which  these 
ruffians,  wliom  I  denounce,  must  be  punished."  Returning  to 
Robespierre.  Louvet  pointed  out  his  ambition,  his  efforts,  his  ex- 
treme ascendency  over  the  people,  and  terminated  his  fiery  philippic 
by  a  series  of  acts,  each  one  of  which  was  preceded  by  this  ter- 
rible form:  "  Robespierre,  I  accuse  thee!  " 

Louvet  descended  from  the  tribune  amid  applause.  Robes- 
l)ierre  mounted  it  to  justify  himself;  he  was  pale,  and  was  received 
with  murmurs.  Either  from  agitation  or  fear  of  prejudice,  he 
asked  for  a  week's  delay.  The  time  arrived ;  he  appeared  less  like 
(me  accused  than  as  a  triumphcr ;  lie  repelled  with  irony  Louvet's 
reproaches,  and  entered  into  a  li>ng  a]V)logy  for  himself.  It  must 
be  admitted  that  the  facts  were  vague,  and  it  required  little  trouble 
to  weaken  or  overturn  them.  Persons  were  placed  in  the  gallery 
to  applaud  him;  even  tlie  convention  itself,  who  regarded  this 
quarrel  as  the  result  of  a  ])ri\;Lte  ])iquc,  and,  as  Barrcre  said,  did  not 
fear  a  man  of  a  day.  a  ]U"tty  leader  of  riots,  was  disposed  to  close 
these   deljaies.      Accordingly,    when    Robespierre   observed,    as    he 


224  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


finished:  "For  my  part,  I  will  draw  no  personal  conclusions; 
I  have  given  up  the  easy  advantage  of  replying  to  the  calumnies  of 
my  adversaries  by  more  formidable  denunciations;  I  wished  to 
sui)press  the  offensive  part  of  my  justification.  I  renounce  the 
just  vengeance  I  have  a  right  to  pursue  against  my  calumniators; 
I  ask  for  no  other  than  the  return  of  peace  and  triumph  of  liberty!  " 
he  was  applauded,  and  the  convention  passed  to  the  order  of  the 
day.  Louvet  in  vain  sought  to  reply;  he  was  not  allowed.  Bar- 
baroux  as  vainly  presented  himself  as  accuser,  and  Lanjuinais  op- 
posed the  motion  for  the  order  without  obtaining  the  renewal 
of  the  discussion.  The  Girondists  themselves  supported  it:  they 
committed  one  fault  in  commencing  the  accusation  and  another 
in  not  continuing  it.  The  Mountain  carried  the  day,  since  they 
were  not  conquered,  and  Robespierre  was  brought  nearer  the  as- 
sumption of  the  part  he  had  been  so  far  removed  from.  In  times 
of  revolution  men  very  soon  become  what  they  are  supposed  to  be, 
and  the  Mountain  adopted  him  for  their  leader  because  the  Gi- 
rondists pursued  him  as  such. 

But  what  was  much  more  important  than  personal  attacks 
was  the  discussion  respecting  the  means  of  government  and 
the  management  of  authorities  and  parties.  The  Girondists  struck, 
not  only  against  individuals,  but  against  the  commune.  Not  one  of 
their  measures  succeeded;  they  were  badly  proposed  or  badly  sus- 
tained. They  should  have  supported  the  government,  replaced  the 
municipality,  maintained  their  post  among  the  Jacobins  and  swayed 
them,  gained  over  the  multitude,  or  prevented  its  acting;  and  they 
did  nothing  of  all  this.  One  among  them,  Buzot,  proposed  giving 
the  convention  a  guard  of  three  thousand  men,  taken  from  the  de- 
partments. This  measure,  which  would  at  least  have  made  the 
assembly  independent,  was  not  supported  with  sufficient  vigor  to 
be  adopted.  Thus  the  Girondists  attacked  the  Mountaineers  with- 
out weakening  them,  the  commune  without  subduing  it,  the  fau- 
bourgs without  suppressing  them.  They  irritated  Paris  by  invoking 
the  aid  of  the  (le])artments,  without  procuring  it,  thus  acting  in 
opposition  to  the  most  common  rules  of  prudence,  for  it  is  always 
safer  to  do  a  tiling  than  to  threaten  to  do  it. 

The  political  short-sightedness  of  the  Girondists  is  remark- 
able; their  hypocrisy  little  less.  They  did  not  hesitate  to  claim  the 
rewards  of  August  lo,  and  appropriated  most  of  the  offices  of 
state,   while   at   the   same  time   they   violently   condemned   Marat, 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI         225 

1792 

Danton,  and  Robespierre.  They  made  the  mistake  of  giving  their 
antagonists  the  advantage  of  a  defensive  position,  and  without 
taking  protective  measures  inveighed  against  the  Mountain  in  the 
very  home  of  its  partisans — Paris. 

Their  adversaries  skillfully  turned  this  circumstance  to  ad- 
vantage. They  secretly  circulated  a  report  which  could  not  but 
compromise  the  Girondists ;  it  was  that  they  wished  to  remove 
the  republic  to  the  south,  and  give  up  the  rest  of  the  empire.  Then 
commenced  that  reproach  of  "  federalism,"  '^  which  afterward  be- 
came so  fatal.  The  Girondists  disdained  it  because  they  did  not 
see  the  consequences ;  but  it  necessarily  gained  credit  in  proportion 
as  they  became  weak  and  their  enemies  became  daring.  What  had 
given  rise  to  the  report  was  the  project  of  defending  themselves 
behind  the  Loire,  and  removing  the  government  to  the  south,  if 
the  north  should  be  invaded  and  Paris  taken,  and  the  predilection 
they  manifested  for  the  provinces,  and  their  indignation  against 
the  agitators  of  the  capital.  Nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  change 
the  appearance  of  a  measure  by  changing  the  period  in  which  the 
measure  was  adopted,  and  discover  in  the  disapprobation  expressed 
at  the  irregular  acts  of  a  city,  an  intention  to  form  the  other  cities 
of  the  state  into  a  league  against  it.  Accordingly,  the  Girondists 
were  pointed  out  to  the  multitude  as  federalists.  While  they  de- 
nounced the  commune,  and  accused  Robespierre  and  Marat,  the 
Mountaineers  decreed  the  unity  and  indivisibility  of  the  republic. 
This  was  a  way  of  attacking  them  and  bringing  them  into  suspicion, 
although  they  themselves  adhered  so  eagerly  to  these  propositions 
that  they  seemed  to  regret  not  having  made  them.'^ 

But  a  circumstance,  apparently  unconnected  with  the  disputes 
of  these  two  parties,  served  still  better  the  cause  of  the  Mountain- 
eers. Already  emboldened  by  the  unsuccessful  attempts  which  had 
been  directed  against  them,  they  only  waited  for  an  opportunity 
to  become  assailants  in  their  turn.  The  convention  was  fatigued 
by  these  long  discussions.  Those  members  who  were  not  interested 
in  them,  and  even  those  of  the  two  parties  who  were  not  in  the 
first  rank,  felt  the  need  of  concord,  and  wished  to  see  men  occupy 
themselves  with  the  republic.     There  was  an  apparent  truce,  and 

®  See  Stephens,  "  French  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  p.  170  ff. ;  Guadet,  "  Les  Giron- 
dins,"  p.  243  ff. ;  Von  Sybel,  "History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  p.  153  ff. 
For  some  proofs  that  the  charge  of  "  federalism  "  was  not  wholly  an  empty  term, 
see  Carlyle,  "  h>ench  Revolution,"  edition  of  Fletcher,  vol.  III.  p.  12,  note. 

"  See  Moniteur,  1693,  Nos.   102-104;  Guadet,  "  Lcs  Girondins,"  pp.  266-275. 


226  THE     FRKNCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


the  attention  of  the  assembly  was  directed  for  a  moment  to  the  new 
constitution,  which  the  Mountain  caused  it  to  abandon  in  order  to 
decide  on  the  fate  of  the  fallen  prince.  The  leaders  of  the  extreme 
Left  were  driven  to  this  course  by  several  motives:  they  did  not 
want  the  Girondists,  and  the  moderate  members  of  the  Plain,  who 
directed  the  committee  of  the  constitution,  the  former  by  Petion, 
Condorcet,  Brissot,  Vergniaud,  Gensonne,  the  others,  by  Barrere, 
Sieycs,  and  Thomas  Paine,  to  organize  the  republic.  They  would 
have  established  the  system  of  the  bourgeoisie,  rendering  it  a  little 
more  democratic  than  that  of  1791,  while  they  themselves  aspired 
at  constituting  the  people.  But  they  could  only  accomplish  their 
end  by  power,  and  they  could  only  obtain  power  by  protracting  the 
revolutionary  state  in  France.  Besides  the  necessity  of  preventing 
the  establishment  of  legal  order  by  a  terrible  coup  d'etat,  such  as 
the  condemnation  of  Louis  XVL,  which  would  arouse  all  passions, 
rally  round  them  the  violent  parties,  by  proving  them  to  be  the 
inflexible  guardians  of  the  republic,  they  hoped  to  expose  the  senti- 
ments of  the  Girondists,  who  did  not  conceal  their  desire  to  save 
Louis  XVL,  and  thus  ruin  them  in  the  estimation  of  the  multitude. 
There  were,  without  a  doubt,  in  this  conjuncture,  a  great  number 
of  ]\Iountaincers  who,  on  this  occasion,  acted  with  the  greatest 
sincerity,  and  only  as  republicans,  in  whose  eyes  Louis  XVL  ap- 
peared guilty  with  resi)ect  to  the  revolution;  and  a  dethroned  king 
was  dangerous  to  a  young  democracy.  But  this  party  would  have 
been  more  clement  had  it  not  had  to  ruin  the  Gironde  at  the  same 
time  with  Louis  XVL* 

For  some  time  past  the  public  mind  had  been  prepared  for 
his  trial.  The  Jacobin  Club  resounded  with  invectives  against  him ; 
the  most  injurious  reports  were  circulated  against  his  character; 
his  condemnation  was  required  for  the  firm  establishment  of  liberty. 
The  popular  societies  in  the  departments  addressed  petitions  to 
the  convention  with  the  same  object.  The  sections  presented  them- 
selves at  the  bar  of  the  assembly,  and  they  carried  through  it,  on 
litters,  the  men  wounded  on  August  10,  who  came  to  cry  for 
vengeance  on  Louis  Capet.     They  now  only  designated  Louis  XVL 

''Upon  this  subject,  the  identification  of  the  cause  of  the  king  with  the 
Girondists,  see  Von  Sybel,  "History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  pp.  260- 
295;  Stephens,  "  I'>ench  Revolution,"  vol.  TI.  pp.  212-222.  The  Girondists  were 
forced  to  vote  for  the  death  of  the  king  in  order  to  free  themselves  from  the 
charge  of  "  royalism."  But  the  Mountain,  which  had  forced  the  fighting,  took 
the  laurel  of  victory. 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI         227 

1792 

by  this  name  of  the  ancient  chief  of  his  race,  thinking  to  substitute 
his  title  of  king-  by  his  family  name.'* 

Party  motives  and  popular  animosities  combined  against  this 
unfortunate  prince.  Those  who,  two  months  before,  would  have 
repelled  the  idea  of  exposing  him  to  any  other  punishment  than 
that  of  dethronement,  were  stupefied ;  so  quickly  does  man  lose 
in  moments  of  crisis  the  right  to  defend  his  opinions!  The  dis- 
covery of  the  iron  chest  especially  increased  the  fanaticism  of  the 
multitude,  and  the  weakness  of  the  king's  defenders.  After  August 
lo  there  were  found  in  the  offices  of  the  civil  list  documents  which 
proved  the  secret  correspondence  of  Louis  XVL  with  the  discon- 
tented princes,  with  the  emigration,  and  with  Europe,  In  a  report, 
drawn  up  at  the  command  of  the  legislative  assembly,  he  was  ac- 
cused of  intending  to  betray  the  state  and  overthrow  the  revolution. 
He  was  accused  of  having  written,  on  April  i6,  1791,  to  the 
Bishop  of  Clermont  that  if  he  regained  his  power  he  would  re- 
store the  former  government,  and  the  clergy  to  the  state  in  which 
they  previously  were ;  of  having  afterward  proposed  war  merely 
to  hasten  the  approach  of  his  deliverers;  of  having  been  in  corre- 
spondence with  men  who  wrote  to  him — "  War  will  compel  all 
the  powers  to  combine  against  the  seditious  and  abandoned  men 
who  tyrannize  over  France,  in  order  that  their  punishment  may 
speedily  serve  as  an  example  to  all  who  shall  be  induced  to  trouble 
the  peace  of  empires.  You  may  rely  on  a  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand men,  Prussians,  Austrians,  and  Imperialists,  and  on  an  army 
of  twenty  thousand  emigrants";  of  having  been  on  terms  with 
his  brothers,  whom  his  public  measures  had  discountenanced;  and, 
lastly,  of  having  constantly  opposed  the  rf  /olution. 

Fresh  documents  were  soon  brought  forward  in  support  of  this 
accusation.     In  the  Tuileries,  behind  a  panel  in  the  wainscot,  there 

^  The  name  Capet,  wliicli  was  no  more  the  name  of  Louis  XVI.  than  Plan- 
tagenet  or  Tudor  is  tb.e  family  name  of  Edward  VII.,  was  derived  from  Hugli 
Capet,  the  first  king  of  the  liouse  which,  as  Capetian,  Valois,  and  Bourbon,  ruled 
France  for  802  years.  But  "'  Capet "  was  a  nickname,  probably  derived  from 
the  circumstance  that  Hugh,  as  his  father  before  him,  used  to  wear  a  small  cape 
or  chapette  as  the  insignia  of  his  position  as  lay  abbot  of  St.  Denis.  The  name, 
however,  does  not  occur  before  the  eleventh  century,  a  fact  which  militates 
against  this  theory.  The  family  name  of  the  liouse  was  Robert,  from  Robert  le 
I'"(irt,  who  died  in  battle  again-^t  the  Northmen  in  8(/).  Mis  son,  Odo,  became 
Count  of  Paris  and  Duke  of  I'r.ince.  When  the  Duke  of  France,  in  the  person 
of  Hugh  Capet,  ascended  the  throne  the  name  of  the  duchy  was  applied  in 
extenso  to  thr  kingdom. 


^HH  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1792 


was  a  hole  wrought  in  the  wall,  and  closed  by  an  iron  door.  This 
secret  closet  was  pointed  out  by  the  minister,  Roland,  and  there 
were  discovered  proofs  of  all  the  conspiracies  and  intrigues  of  the 
court  against  the  revolution;  projects  with  the  popular  leaders  to 
strengthen  the  constitutional  power  of  the  king,  to  restore  the 
ancient  regime  and  the  aristocrats;  the  maneuvers  of  Talon,  the 
arrangements  with  Mirabeau,  the  propositions  accepted  by  Bouille, 
under  the  constituent  assembly,  and  some  new  plots  under  the  leg- 
islative assembly.  This  discovery  increased  the  exasperation  against 
Louis  XVL  Mirabeau's  bust  was  broken  by  the  Jacobins,  and  the 
convention  covered  the  one  which  stood  in  the  hall  where  it  held 
its  sittings/" 

For  some  time  there  had  been  a  question  in  the  assembly  as 
to  the  trial  of  this  prince,  who,  having  been  dethroned,  could  no 
longer  be  proceeded  against.  There  was  no  tribunal  empowered  to 
pronounce  his  sentence,  no  punishment  which  could  be  inflicted 
on  him :  accordingly,  they  plunged  into  false  interpretations  of 
the  inviolability  granted  to  Louis  XVL,  in  order  to  condemn  him 
legally.  For  the  king  could  not  be  tried  legally ;  for  there  was  no 
provision  for  impeachment  in  the  constitution.  Despite  ingenious 
arguments  to  the  contrary,  the  question  was,  and  had  to  be,  a 
political  question. 

On  October  i6,  1792,  the  convention  had  received  a  peti- 
tion from  the  Jacobins  of  Auxerre,  who  demanded  the  trial  of 
the  king.  At  bottom  no  one  in  the  convention  had  any  interest 
in  his  fate,  for  Louis  XVT.  had  ceased  to  be  dangerous,  but  once 
the  question  was  raised,  neither  the  Mountain  nor  the  Girondists 
dared  to  risk  the  accusation  of  being  moderates,  for  fear  of  being 
compromised.  Two  reports  upon  the  matter  were  made  to  the 
cunvention,  one  by  a  Girondist,  the  other  by  a  Mountaineer,  both 
recommending  the  trial  of  the  king  (November  6-7).  On  Novem- 
ber 13  the  debate  opened  upon  the  question  as  to  whether  the 
convention  could  sit  in  judgment  upon  Louis  XVL  Morrisson, 
taking  his  stand  upon  the  precedent  of  1791,  argued  for  the  in- 
violability of  the  king.  Saint-Just  now  made  himself  famous,  for 
the  first  time,  by  declaring :    "  Citizens :    I  sliall  undertake  to  prove 

^*>  Both  tlie  nature  and  the  extent  of  these  compromising  papers  is  uncer- 
tain. It  is  of  curi.)us  significance  that  none  of  the  Girondists  were  incriminated 
by  the  "  document-^."  A  committee  of  twenty-four  persons  had  been  appointed 
on  October  i  lu  report  upon  tlie  papers.  Roland,  who  "  discovered  "  the  secret 
receptacle,  was  popularly  believed  to  have  suppressed  some'  and  faliricated  others. 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI  229 

1792 

that  the  opinion  of  Morrisson,  who  asserts  the  king's  inviolability, 
and  that  of  the  committee,  which  wishes  to  judge  him  as  a  citizen, 
are  equally  false.  I  say  that  the  king  should  be  judged  as  an 
enemy.  ...  To  judge  a  king  as  a  citizen!  This  word  will 
astonish  posterity.  To  judge  is  to  apply  the  law.  A  law  is  an 
institution  of  justice.  What  institution  of  justice  is  there  between 
humanity  and  kings?  Kingship  is  an  eternal  crime.  No  man  can 
reign  and  be  innocent.''  This  doctrine,  which  was  that  of  the 
Jacobins,  was  sustained  by  Robespierre  in  his  speech  on  December 
3.  As  was  to  be  expected,  the  convention  decided  to  bring  Louis 
XVI.  to  trial  and  appointed  a  commission  of  twenty-one  members 
to  prepare  the  process. 

The  greatest  error  of  parties,  next  to  being  unjust,  is  the  desire 
not  to  appear  so.  The  committee  of  legislation  commissioned  to 
draw  up  a  report  on  the  question  as  to  whether  Louis  XVI.  could 
be  tried,  and  whether  lie  could  be  tried  by  the  convention,  decided 
in  the  affirmative.  The  deputy  Mailhe  opposed,  in  its  name,  the 
dogma  of  inviolability;  but  as  this  dogma  had  influenced  the  pre- 
ceding epoch  of  the  revolution,  he  contended  that  Louis  XVI.  was 
inviolable  as  king,  but  not  as  an  individual.  He  maintained  that 
the  nation,  unable  to  give  up  its  guarantee  respecting  acts  of  power, 
had  supplied  tlie  inviolability  of  the  monarch  by  the  responsibility 
of  his  ministers;  and  that,  when  Louis  XVI.  had  acted  as  a  simple 
individual,  his  responsibility  devolving  on  no  one,  he  ceased  to  be 
inviolable.  Thus  Mailhe  limited  the  constitutional  safeguard  given 
to  Louis  XVI.  to  the  acts  of  the  king.  He  concluded  that  Louis 
XVI.  could  be  tried,  the  dethronement  not  being  a  punishment, 
but  a  change  of  government;  that  he  might  be  brought  to  trial,  by 
virtue  of  the  penal  code  relative  to  traitors  and  conspirators;  that 
he  could  be  tried  by  the  convention,  without  observing  the  process 
of  other  tribunals,  because,  the  convention  representing  the  people 
— the  people  including  all  interests,  and  all  interests  constituting 
justice — it  was  impossible  that  the  national  tribunal  could  violate 
justice,  and  that,  consequently,  it  was  useless  to  subject  it  to  forms. 
Such  was  the  chain  of  sopliistry  1)y  means  of  which  the  committee 
transformed  the  convention  into  a  tribunal.  Robespierre's  party 
showed  itself  much  more  consistent,  dwelling  only  on  state  reasons, 
and  rejecting  forms  as  deceptive. 

The  discussion  commenced  on  November  13.  six  davs  after 
the  report  of  the  committee.     The  partisans  of  inviolability,  while 


230  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

they  considered  Louis  XVL  guilty,  maintained  that  he  could  not 
be  tried.  The  principal  of  these  was  Morrisson.  He  said  that 
inviolability  was  general ;  that  the  constitution  had  anticipated  more 
than  secret  hostility  on  the  part  of  Louis  XVL,  an  open  attack,  and 
even  in  that  case  had  only  pronounced  his  deposition;  that  in  this 
respect  the  nation  had  pledged  its  sovereignty ;  that  the  mission  of 
the  convention  was  to  change  the  government,  not  to  judge  Louis 
XVL ;  that,  restrained  by  the  rules  of  justice,  it  was  so  also  by  the 
usages  of  war,  which  only  permitted  an  enemy  to  be  destroyed 
during  the  combat — after  a  victory,  the  law  vindicates  him;  that, 
moreover,  the  republic  had  no  interest  in  condemning  Louis;  that 
it  ought  to  confine  itself  with  respect  to  him,  to  measures  of  general 
safety,  detain  him  prisoner,  or  banish  him  from  France.  This 
was  the  opinion  of  the  Right  of  the  convention.  The  Plain  shared 
the  opinion  of  the  committee;  but  the  Mountain  repelled,  at  the 
same  time,  the  inviolability  and  the  trial  of  Louis  XVL 

"  Citizens,"  said  Saint-Just,  "  I  engage  to  prove  that  the  opin- 
ion of  Morrison,  who  maintains  the  king's  inviolability,  and  that 
of  the  committee,  which  requires  his  trial  as  a  citizen,  are  equally 
false;  I  contend  that  we  should  judge  the  king  as  an  enemy;  that 
we  have  less  to  do  with  trying  than  with  opposing  him:  that  hav- 
ing no  place  in  the  contract  which  unites  Frenchmen,  the  forms 
of  the  proceeding  are  not  in  civil  law.  but  in  the  law  of  the  right  of 
nations;  thus,  all  delay  or  reserve  in  this  case  are  sheer  acts 
of  imprudence,  and  next  to  the  imprudence  which  postpones  the 
moment  that  should  give  us  laws,  the  most  fatal  will  be  that  which 
makes  us  temporize  with  the  king.''  Reducing  everything  to  con- 
siderations of  enmity  and  policy,  Saint-Just  added :  "  The  very  men 
who  are  about  to  try  Louis  have  a  republic  to  establish :  those  who 
attach  any  importance  to  the  just  chastisement  of  a  king  will  never 
found  a  republic.  Citizens,  if  the  Roman  people,  after  six  hundred 
years  of  virtue  and  of  hatred  toward  kings:  if  Great  Britain  after 
the  death  of  Cromwell  saw  kings  restored  in  spite  of  its  energy, 
what  ought  not  good  citizens,  friends  of  liberty,  to  fear  among  us, 
when  they  see  tlie  ax  tremble  in  your  hands,  and  a  people,  from 
the  first  day  of  tlieir  freedom,  respect  the  memory  of  their  chains?  " 

This  violent  j)arty,  who  wislicd  to  substitute  a  coup  d'etat  for 
a  sentence,  to   fnllMW  no  law.  no   form,  but  to  strike  Louis  XVL 
like    a    conf|ucre(l    prisoner,    by    making    hostilities    even    sun-ive 
victory,   had   but    a    verv   feeble   majoritv   in   the   convention;   but 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI         231 

1792 

without  it  was  strongly  supported  by  the  Jacobins  and  the  com- 
mune. Notwithstanding  the  terror  which  it  already  inspired,  its 
murderous  suggestions  were  repelled  by  the  convention;  and  the 
partisans  of  inviolability,  in  their  turn,  courageously  asserted  rea- 
sons of  public  interest  at  the  same  time  as  rules  of  justice  and 
humanity.  They  maintained  that  the  same  men  could  not  be  judges 
and  legislators,  the  jury  and  the  accusers.  They  desired  also  to 
impart  to  the  rising  republic  the  luster  of  great  virtues,  those  of 
generosity  and  forgiveness ;  they  wished  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  people  of  Rome,  who  acquired  their  freedom  and  retained  it 
five  hundred  years,  because  they  proved  themselves  magnanimous ; 
because  they  banished  the  Tarquins  instead  of  putting  them  to 
death.  In  a  political  view,  they  showed  the  consequences  of  the 
king's  condemnation,  as  it  would  affect  the  anarchical  party  of  the 
kingdom,  rendering  it  still  more  insolent ;  and  with  regard  to 
Europe,  whose  still  neutral  powers  it  would  induce  to  join  the 
coalition  against  the  republic. 

But  Robespierre,  who  during  this  long  debate  displayed  a 
daring  and  perseverance  that  presaged  his  power,  appeared  at  the 
tribune  to  support  Saint-Just,  to  reproach  the  convention  with 
involving  in  doubt  what  the  insurrection  had  decided,  and  with 
restoring,  by  sympathy  and  the  publicity  of  a  defense,  the  fallen 
royalist  party.  "  The  assembly,"  said  Robespierre,  "  has  involun- 
tarily been  led  far  away  from  the  real  question.  Here  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  trial:  Louis  is  not  an  accused  man;  you  are 
not  judges,  you  are,  and  can  only  be  statesmen.  You  have  no 
sentence  to  pronounce  for  or  against  a  man.  but  you  are  called 
on  to  adopt  a  measure  of  public  safety ;  to  perform  an  act  of  na- 
tional precaution.  A  dethroned  king  is  only  fit  for  two  purposes, 
to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  the  state,  and  shake  its  freedom,  or 
to  strengthen  one  or  the  other  of  them. 

"Louis  was  king:  the  republic  is  founded;  the  famous  ques- 
tion you  are  discussing  is  decided  in  these  few  words.  Louis  cannot 
be  tried ;  he  is  already  tried,  he  is  condemned,  or  the  republic  is 
not  absolved."  He  required  that  the  convention  should  declare 
Louis  XVL  a  traitor  toward  the  hVcnch.  criminal  toward  humanity, 
and  sentence  him  at  once  to  death,  by  virtue  of  the  insurrection. 

The  ^Mountaineers,  by  these  extreme  propositions,  by  the  popn- 
laritv  thev  attained  without,  rendered  condemnation  in  a  measure 
inevitable.     Bv  gaining  an  extraordinary  advance  on  the  otlier  jiar- 


232  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792 

ties,  it  obliged  them  to  follow  it,  though  at  a  distance.  The  ma- 
jority of  the  convention,  composed  in  a  large  part  of  Girondists, 
who  dared  not  pronounce  Louis  XVL  inviolable,  and  of  the  Plain, 
decided,  on  Petion's  proposition,  against  the  opinion  of  the  fanatical 
Mountaineers  and  against  that  of  the  partisans  of  inviolability,  that 
Louis  XVL  should  be  tried  by  the  convention.  Robert  Lindet 
then  made,  in  the  name  of  the  commission  of  the  twenty-one,  his 
report  respecting  Louis  XVL  The  arraignment,  setting  forth 
the  offenses  imputed  to  him,  was  drawn  up,  and  the  convention 
summoned  the  prisoner  to  its  bar. 

Louis  had  been  confined  in  the  Temple  for  four  months.  He 
was  not  at  liberty,  as  the  assembly  at  first  wished  him  to  be  in 
assigning  him  the  Luxembourg  for  a  residence.  The  suspicious 
c(jmmune  guarded  him  closely;  but,  submissive  to  his  destiny, 
prepared  for  everything,  he  manifested  neither  impatience,  regret, 
nor  indignation.  He  had  only  one  servant  about  his  person,  Clery, 
who  at  the  same  time  waited  on  his  family.  During  the  first  months 
of  his  imprisonment  he  was  not  separated  from  his  family ;  and  he 
still  found  solace  in  meeting  it.  He  comforted  and  supported  his 
two  companions  in  misfortune,  his  wife  and  sister;  he  acted  as 
preceptor  to  the  young  dauphin,  and  gave  him  the  lessons  of  an 
unfortunate  man,  of  a  captive  king.  He  read  a  great  deal,  and 
often  turned  to  the  "  History  of  England,''  by  Hume ;  there  he  read 
of  many  dethroned  kings,  and  one  of  them  condemned  by  the 
people.  Man  always  seeks  destinies  similar  to  his  own.  But  the 
consolation  he  found  in  the  sight  of  his  family  did  not  last  long: 
as  soon  as  his  trial  was  decided  he  was  separated  from  them.  The 
commune  wished  to  prevent  the  prisoners  from  concerting  their 
justification;  the  surveillance  it  exercised  over  Louis  XVL  became 
daily  more  minute  and  severe. 

In  this  state  of  things  Santerre  received  the  order  to  conduct 
Louis  XVL  to  the  bar  of  the  convention.  He  repaired  to  the 
Temple,  accompanied  by  the  mayor,  who  communicated  his  mis- 
sion to  the  king,  and  inquired  if  he  was  willing  to  descend.  Louis 
hesitated  a  moment,  then  said:  ''  This  is  another  violence.  I  must 
yield!"  and  lie  decided  on  appearing  before  the  convention,  not 
objecting  to  it,  as  Charles  L  had  done  with  regard  to  his  judges. 
"  Representatives,"  said  Barrere.  when  his  approach  was  announced, 
"  you  are  about  to  exercise  the  right  of  national  justice.  Let  your 
attitude  be  suited   to  your  new   functions";    and   turning  to   the 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI         233 

1792 

gallery,  he  added :  "  Citizens,  remember  the  terrible  silence  which 
accompanied  Louis  on  his  return  from  Varennes;  a  silence  which 
was  the  precusor  of  the  trial  of  kings  by  nations."  Louis  XVI. 
appeared  firm  as  he  entered  the  hall,  and  he  took  a  steady  glance 
round  the  assembly.  He  was  placed  at  the  bar,  and  the  president 
said  to  him  in  a  voice  of  emotion:  "Louis,  the  French  nation 
accuses  you.  You  are  about  to  hear  the  charges  of  the  indictment. 
Louis,  be  seated."  A  seat  had  been  prepared  for  him ;  he  sat  in  it. 
During  a  long  examination  he  displayed  much  calmness  and  pres- 
ence of  mind ;  he  replied  to  each  question  appropriately,  often  in  an 
affecting  and  triumphant  manner.  He  repelled  the  reproaches  ad- 
dressed to  him  respecting  his  conduct  before  July  14,  reminding 
them  that  his  authority  was  not  then  limited;  before  the  journey 
to  Varennes,  by  the  decree  of  the  constitutent  assembly,  which  had 
been  satisfied  with  his  replies;  and  after  August  10,  by  throwing 
all  public  acts  on  ministerial  responsibility,  and  by  denying  all  the 
secret  measures  which  were  personally  attributed  to  him.  This 
denial  did  not,  however,  in  the  eyes  of  the  convention,  overthrow 
facts,  proved  for  the  most  part  by  documents  written  or  signed  by 
the  hand  of  Louis  XVI.  himself;  he  made  use  of  the  natural  right 
of  every  accused  person.  Thus  he  did  not  admit  tlie  existence  of 
the  iron  chest  and  the  papers  that  were  brought  forward.  Louis 
XVI.  invoked  a  law  of  safety,  which  the  convention  did  not  admit, 
and  the  convention  sought  to  protect  itself  from  anti-revolutionary 
attempts,  which  Louis  XVL  would  not  admit. 

When  Louis  had  returned  to  the  Temple  the  convention  con- 
sidered the  request  he  had  made  for  a  defender.  A  few  Mountain- 
eers opposed  the  request  in  vain.  The  convention  determined  to 
allow^  him  the  services  of  a  counsel.  It  was  then  that  the  venerable 
Malesherbes  offered  himself  to  the  convention  to  defend  Louis 
XVI.  "  Twice,"  he  wrote,  "  have  I  been  summoned  to  the  council 
of  him  who  was  my  master,  at  a  time  when  that  function  was  the 
object  of  ambition  to  every  man ;  I  owe  him  the  same  service  now, 
when  many  consider  it  dangerous."  His  request  was  granted. 
Louis  XVL  in  his  abandonment  was  touclied  by  this  proof  of 
devotion.  When  ]\Ialesherbes  entered  his  room,  he  went  toward 
him,  pressed  him  in  his  arms,  and  said  with  tears:  "  Your  sacrifice 
is  the  more  generous  since  you  endanger  your  own  life  without 
saving  mine."  AL'desherbes  and  Tronchet  toiled  uninterruptedly 
at  his  defense,   and  associated   l^e   Seze   with   them;  thev   sought 


234  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1793 


to  reanimate  the  courage  of  the  king,  but  they  found  the  king  little 
inclined  to  hope.  "  I  am  sure  they  will  take  my  life ;  but  no  matter, 
let  us  attend  to  my  trial  the  same  as  if  I  were  about  to  gain  it.  In 
truth,  I  shall  gain  it,  for  I  shall  leave  no  stain  on  my  memory." 

At  length  the  day  for  the  defense  arrived;  it  was  delivered 
by  De  Seze;  Louis  w^as  present.  The  profoundest  silence  per- 
vaded the  assembly  and  the  galleries.  De  Seze  availed  himself 
of  every  consideration  of  justice  and  innocence  in  favor  of  the  royal 
prisoner.  He  appealed  to  the  inviolability  which  had  been  granted 
him;  he  asserted  that  as  king  he  could  not  be  tried;  that  as  ac- 
cusers the  representatives  of  the  people  could  not  be  his  judges. 
In  this  he  advanced  nothing  which  had  not  already  been  main- 
tained by  one  party  of  the  assembly.  But  he  chiefly  strove  to 
justify  the  conduct  of  Louis  XVI.  by  ascribing  to  him  intentions 
always  pure  and  irreproachable.  He  concluded  with  these  last  and 
solemn  words :  "  Listen,  in  anticipation,  to  what  History  will  say 
to  Fame;  Louis  ascending  the  throne  at  twenty,  presented  an 
example  of  morals,  justice,  and  economy;  he  had  no  weakness,  no 
corrupting  passion :  he  was  the  constant  friend  of  the  people.  Did 
the  people  desire  the  abolition  of  an  oppressive  tax?  Louis  abol- 
ished it:  did  the  people  desire  the  suppression  of  slavery?  Louis 
suppressed  it:  did  the  people  solicit  reforms?  he  made  them:  did 
the  people  wish  to  change  their  laws?  he  consented  to  change  them : 
did  the  people  desire  that  millions  of  Frenchmen  should  be  restored 
to  their  rights?  he  restored  them:  did  the  people  wish  for  liberty? 
he  gave  it  them.  Men  cannot  deny  to  Louis  the  glory  of  having 
anticipated  the  people  by  his  sacrifices;  and  it  is  he  whom  it  is 
proposed  to  slay.  Citizens,  I  will  not  continue ;  I  leave  it  to  History ; 
remember,  she  will  judge  your  sentence,  and  her  judgment  will 
be  that  of  ages."  But  passion  proved  deaf  and  incapable  of 
foresiglit. 

The  Girondists  wished  to  save  Louis  XVI.,  but  they  feared 
the  imputation  of  royalism,  which  was  already  cast  upon  them  by 
the  Mountaineers.  During  the  whole  transaction  their  conduct  was 
rather  equivocal ;  they  dared  not  pronounce  themselves  in  favor  of  or 
against  tlie  accused;  and  their  moderation  ruined  them  without 
serving  him.  At  that  moment  his  cause,  not  only  that  of  his  throne, 
but  of  his  life,  was  their  own.  They  were  about  to  determine,  by 
an  act  of  justice  or  by  a  coup  d'etat,  whether  they  should  return  to 
the  legal  regime  or  prolong  the  revolutionary  regime.    The  triumph 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI  235 

1793 

of  the  Girondists  or  of  the  Mountaineers  was  involved  in  one  or 
the  other  of  these  solutions.  The  latter  became  exceedingly  active. 
They  pretended  that,  while  following  forms,  men  were  forgetful 
of  republican  energy,  and  that  the  defense  of  Louis  XVI.  was  a 
lecture  on  monarchy  addressed  to  the  nation.  The  Jacobins  pow- 
erfully seconded  them,  and  deputations  came  to  the  bar  demanding 
the  death  of  the  king. 

Yet  the  Girondists,  who  had  not  dared  to  maintain  the  question 
of  inviolability,  proposed  a  skillful  way  of  saving  Louis  XVI.  from 
death,  by  appealing  from  the  sentence  of  the  convention  to  the 
people.  The  extreme  Right  still  protested  against  the  erection 
of  the  assembly  into  a  tribunal ;  but  the  competence  of  the  assembly 
having  been  previously  decided,  all  their  efforts  were  turned  in 
another  direction.  Salles  proposed  that  the  king  should  be  pro- 
nounced guilty,  but  that  the  application  of  the  punishment  should 
be  left  to  the  primary  assembly.  Buzot,  fearing  that  the  conven- 
tion would  incur  the  reproach  of  weakness,  thought  that  it  ought 
to  pronounce  the  sentence,  and  submit  tlie  judgment  it  pronounced 
to  the  decision  of  the  people.  This  advice  was  vigorously  opposed 
by  the  Mountaineers,  and  even  by  a  great  number  of  the  more  mod- 
erate members  of  the  convention,  who  saw  in  the  convocation  of 
the  primary  assemblies  the  germ  of  civil  war. 

The  assembly  had  unanimously  decided  that  Louis  was  guilty, 
when  the  appeal  to  the  people  was  put  to  the  question.  Two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  voices  voted  for,  424  against  it;  ten  declined 
voting.  Then  came  the  terrible  question  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
punishment."     Paris  was  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  excitement: 

11  Six  hundred  and  eighty-three  against  26  declared  Loin's  guilty  of  con- 
spiracy against  the  liberty  of  the  nation ;  424  against  283  voted  against  appeal  to 
the  people ;  387  deputies  voted  for  death  without  condition,  334  for  death  with 
delay  of  execution  or  for  punishment  less  than  capital.  The  majority  for  death 
was  53.  The  first  two  votes  were  taken  on  January  15,  1793.  Barrere  had 
succeeded  in  having  a  motion  carried  to  the  effect  that  the  vote  should  be  taken 
by  calling  the  roll  instead  of  by  ballot.  This  subtle  species  of  intimidation 
accounts  for  the  large  vote.  Worse  still  was  the  intimidation  by  the  mob  in 
the  galleries.  Cf.  Stephens,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  II.  p.  216  ff.  The  vote  is 
analyzed  by  persons  in  Fletcher's  edition  of  Carlyle's  "  French  Revolution,"  vol. 
II.  p.  391,  note. 

It  is  interesting  to  Americans  especially  to  know  that  Thomas  Paine,  the 
author  of  "Common  Sense,"  who  had  a  new  field  of  political  activity  in  France 
after  the  American  Revolution,  who  was  naturalized  and  was  elected  a  deputy 
of  Pason-Calais  to  the  convention,  tried  to  induce  the  convention  to  exile  Louis 
XVT.  to  the  United  States.  Dr.  Priestly,  the  eminent  chemist,  and  a  famous 
radical,  also  was  a  member  of  the  convention  and  supported  Paine's  suggestion. 


«36  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

"  1793 

deputies  were  threatened  at  the  very  door  of  the  assembly;  fresh 
excesses  on  the  part  of  the  populace  were  dreaded;  the  Jacobin 
clubs  resounded  with  extravagant  invectives  against  Louis  XVL 
and  the  Right.  The  Mountain,  till  then  the  weakest  party  in  the 
convention,  sought  to  obtain  the  majority  by  terror,  determined, 
if  it  did  not  succeed,  none  the  less  to  sacrifice  Louis  XVL  Finally, 
after  four  hours  of  nominal  appeal,  the  president,  Vergniaud,  said: 
"  Citizens,  I  am  about  to  proclaim  the  result  of  the  scrutiny.  When 
iustice  has  spoken,  humanity  should  have  its  turn."  There  were 
721  voters.  The  actual  majority  was  361,  as  26  deputies  voted  for 
death  with  Maihli's  amendment  for  postponement.^^  Opinions  were 
very  various;  Girondists  voted  for  his  death,  with  a  reservation,  it 
is  true ;  most  of  the  members  of  the  Right  voted  for  imprisonment 
or  exile,  a  few  Mountaineers  voted  with  the  Girondists.  As  soon 
as  the  result  was  known,  the  president  said,  in  a  tone  of  grief :  "  In 
the  name  of  the  convention,  I  declare  the  punishment,  to  which  it 
condemns  Louis  Capet,  to  be  death."  Those  who  had  undertaken 
the  defense  appeared  at  the  bar;  they  were  deeply  affected.  They 
endeavored  to  bring  back  the  assembly  to  sentiments  of  compas- 
sion, in  consideration  of  the  small  majority  in  favor  of  the  sentence. 
But  this  subject  had  already  been  discussed  and  decided.  "  Laws 
are  only  made  by  a  simple  majority,"  said  a  Mountaineer.  "  Yes," 
replied  a  voice,  "  but  laws  may  be  revoked :  you  cannot  restore  the 
life  of  a  man."  Malesherbes  wished  to  speak,  but  could  not.  Sobs 
prevented  his  utterance;  he  could  only  articulate  a  few  indistinct 
words  of  entreaty.  His  grief  moved  the  assembly.  The  request 
for  a  reprieve  was  received  by  the  Girondists  as  a  last  resource; 
but  this  also  failed  them,  and  the  fatal  sentence  was  pronounced. 

Louis  expected  it.  When  Malesherbes  came  in  tears  to  an- 
nounce the  sentence,  he  found  him  sitting  in  the  dark,  his  elbows 
resting  on  a  table,  his  face  hid  in  his  hands,  and  in  profound  medi- 
tation. At  the  noise  of  his  entrance,  Louis  rose  and  said:  "  For 
two  liours  I  have  been  trying  to  discover  if,  during  my  reign,  I 
have  rlcserved  tlie  slightest  reproach  from  my  subjects.  Well,  M. 
(le  Malesherbes,  I  swear  to  you,  in  the  truth  of  my  heart,  as  a  man 
about  to  appear  before  God,  that  I  have  constantly  sought  the 
hai)pin('ss  of  my  people,  and  never  indulged  a  wish  opposed  to  it." 
Males]ierl)cs  urged  that  repric\e  would  not  be  rejected,  but  this 
Louis  did  u<<[  expect.  As  b,e  saw  ]\Ialeshcrbes  go  out,  Louis 
begged  him  not  to  forsake  him  in  his  last  moments;    Malesherbes 

'-'  On    January    16. 


CONVENTION     AND     LOUIS     XVI  5^37 

1793 

promised  to  return,  and  came  often  and  was  always  admitted, 
though  he  was  searched  before  being  permitted  to  enter.  Louis 
received  without  emotion  the  formal  announcement  of  his  sen- 
tence from  the  minister  of  justice.  He  asked  three  days  to  prepare 
to  appear  before  God;  and  also  to  be  allowed  the  services  of  a 
priest,  and  permission  to  communicate  freely  with  his  wife  and 
children.  Only  the  last  two  requests  were  granted.  The  Abbe 
Edgeworth,  a  nonjuring  priest  of  his  selection,  was  admitted,  and 
his  family  was  allowed  to  see  him. 

The  interview  was  a  distressing  scene  to  this  desolate  family ; 
but  the  moment  of  separation  was  far  more  so.  Louis  on  parting 
with  his  family  promised  to  see  them  again  the  next  day,  but  on 
reaching  his  room  he  felt  that  the  trial  would  be  too  much,  and, 
pacing  up  and  down  violently,  he  exclaimed:  "  I  will  not  go!" 
This  was  his  last  struggle;  the  rest  of  his  time  was  spent  in  prepar- 
ing for  death.  The  night  before  the  execution  he  slept  calmly. 
Clery  awoke  him,  as  he  had  been  ordered,  at  five,  and  received 
his  last  instructions.  He  then  communicated,  commissioned  Clery 
with  his  dying  words,  and  all  lie  was  allowed  to  bequeath,  a  ring, 
a  seal,  and  some  hair.  The  drums  were  already  beating,  and  the 
dull  sound  of  traveling  cannon,  and  of  confused  voices,  might  be 
heard.  At  length  Santerre  arrixed.  "  ^'ou  are  come  for  me," 
said  Louis;  "I  ask  one  moment."  He  deposited  his  will  in  the 
hands  of  the  municipal  officer,  asked  for  his  hat,  and  said,  in  a 
firm  tone:     "Let  us  go." 

The  carriage  was  an  hour  on  its  way  from  the  Temple  to  the 
Place  de  la  Revoluti(,)n.  A  double  row  of  soldiers  lined  the  road ; 
more  than  forty  tliousand  men  were  under  arms.  Paris  presented 
a  gloomy  aspect.  The  citizens  present  at  the  execution  manifested 
neither  applause  nor  regret;  all  were  silent.  On  reaching  the  place 
of  execution  Louis  alighted  from  the  carriage.  He  ascended  the 
scaffold  with  a  firm  step,  knelt  to  receive  tlie  benediction  of  the 
priest,  who  is  recorded  to  have  said,  "  Son  of  Saint  Louis,  ascend 
to  heaven!"  \\'ith  some  repugnance  he  submitted  to  the  binding 
of  his  hands,  and  Vvalked  hastily  to  the  left  of  the  scaffold:  "  I  die 
innocent,"  said  he;  *'  I  forgi\e  my  enemies;  and  you,  unfortunate 
people  ..."  Here,  at  a  signal,  tlie  drums  and  trumpets 
drowned  his  voice,  and  the  three  executioners  seized  him,  and 
"hortly  after  ten  o'clock  of  January  21,  1793,  he  had  ceased  to  live. 

Thus  perished.  ;it  the  age  of  tliirty-nine,  after  a  reign  of  six- 


238  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

teen  years  and  a  half,  spent  in  endeavoring  to  do  good,  the  best 
but  weakest  of  monarchs.  His  ancestors  bequeathed  to  him  a  revo- 
hition.  lie  was  better  calculated  than  any  of  them  to  prevent  and 
terminate  it ;  for  he  was  capable  of  becoming  a  reformer-king  be- 
fore it  broke  out,  or  of  becoming  a  constitutional  king  afterward. 
He  is.  perhaps,  the  only  prince  who,  having  no  other  passion,  had 
not  that  of  power,  and  wdio  united  the  two  qualities  which  make 
good  kings,  fear  of  God,  and  love  of  the  people.  He  perished,  the 
victim  of  passions  which  he  did  not  share;  of  those  of  the  persons 
about  him,  to  which  he  was  a  stranger,  and  to  those  of  the  multitude, 
which  he  had  not  excited.  Few  memories  of  kings  are  so  com- 
mendable. History  will  say  of  him,  that,  with  a  little  more  strength 
of  mind,  he  would  have  been  an  exemplary  king. 


Chapter  IX 

FALL    OF    THE    GIRONDISTS 
JANUARY   2I-JUNE   2,    1793 

THE  death  of  Louis  XVI.  rendered  tlie  different  parties 
irreconcilable,  and  increased  the  external  enemies  of  the 
revolution.  The  republicans  had  to  contend  with  all 
Europe,  with  several  classes  of  malcontents,  and  with  themselves. 
But  the  Mountaineers,  who  then  directed  the  popular  movement, 
imagined  that  they  were  too  far  involved  not  to  push  matters  to 
extremity.  To  terrify  tlie  enemies  of  the  revolution,  to  excite  the 
fanaticism  of  the  people  by  harangues,  by  the  presence  of  danger, 
and  by  insurrections ;  to  refer  everything  to  it,  both  the  govern- 
ment and  the  safety  of  the  republic;  to  infuse  into  it  the  most 
ardent  enthusiasm,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity; 
to  keep  it  in  this  violent  state  of  crisis  for  the  purpose  of  making 
use  of  its  passions  and  its  power ;  such  was  the  plan  of  Danton 
and  the  Mountain,  who  had  chosen  him  for  their  leader.  It  was 
he  who  augmented  the  popular  effcr\cscence  by  the  growing  dan- 
gers of  the  republic,  and  who,  under  the  name  of  revolutionary 
government,  established  the  despotism  of  the  multitude,  instead  of 
legal  liberty.  Robespierre  and  Marat  went  even  nuich  further 
than  he.  They  sought  to  erect  into  a  permanent  government  what 
Danton  considered  as  merely  transitory.  The  latter  was  only  a 
political  chief,  while  the  others  were  true  sectarians;  the  first,  more 
ambitious,  the  second,  more  fanatical. 

The  ]\lountaineers  had,  by  the  catastrophe  of  January  21, 
gained  a  great  victory  over  the  Girondists.  I'hey  were  accused  of 
being  the  enemies  of  the  people,  because  they  opposed  their  excesses  ; 
of  being  the  accomjilices  f)f  the  tyrant,  because  they  had  sought  to 
save  Louis  XVI. ;  and  of  l^etraying  tlie  republic.  Ijecause  they  recom- 
mended moderation.  It  was  with  these  reproaches  that  the  Moun- 
taineers persecuted  them  with  constant  animosity  in  the  bosom  of 
the  convention,  from  January  21  till  May  31,  and  June  2.  The 
Girondists  were  for  a  long  time  sui)purtcd  by  the  Center,  which 

2J<) 


2^0  THE     FRENCH     R  E  \'  O  L  U  T  1  O  N 

1793 

sided  witli  the  Right  against  murder  and  anarchy,  and  with  the 
Left  for  measures  for  pubhc  safety.  The  mass,  which,  properly 
speaking,  formed  the  spirit  of  the  convention,  displayed  some  cour- 
age, and  balanced  the  power  of  the  Mountain  and  the  commune  as 
long  as  it  possessed  those  intrepid  and  eloquent  Girondists,  who 
carried  with  them  to  prison  and  to  the  scaffold  all  the  generous 
resolutions  of  the  assembly. 

For  a  moment  union  existed  among  the  various  parties  of  the 
assembly,  Lepelletier-Saint-Fargeau  was  stabbed  by  a  retired  mem- 
ber of  the  household  guard,  named  Paris,  for  having  voted  the 
death  of  Louis  XVL  The  members  of  the  convention,  united  by 
common  danger,  swore  on  his  tomb  to  forget  their  enmities ;  but 
they  soon  revived  them.  Some  of  the  murderers  of  September, 
whose  punishment  was  desired  by  the  more  honorable  republicans, 
were  proceeded  against  at  Meaux.  The  Mountaineers,  apprehen- 
sive that  their  past  conduct  would  be  inquired  into,  and  that  their 
adversaries  would  take  advantage  of  a  condemnation  to  attack  them 
more  openly  themselves,  put  a  stop  to  these  proceedings.  This 
impunity  further  emboldened  the  leaders  of  the  multitude ;  and 
Marat,  who  at  that  period  had  an  incredible  influence  over  the 
multitude,  excited  them  to  pillage  the  dealers,  whom  he  accused 
of  monopolizing  provisions.  He  wrote  and  spoke  violently,  in  his 
pamphlets  and  at  the  Jacobins,  against  the  aristocracy  of  the  burgh- 
ers, merchants,  and  statesmen  (as  he  designated  the  Girondists), 
that  is  to  say,  against  those  who,  in  the  assembly  or  the  nation 
at  large,  still  opposed  the  reign  of  the  sans-culottes  and  the  Moun- 
taineers. There  was  something  frightful  in  the  fanaticism  and  in- 
vincible obstinacy  of  these  sectaries.  The  name  given  by  them  to 
the  Girondists  from  the  beginning  of  the  convention  was  that  of 
i)ifrigaiifs,  on  account  of  the  ministerial  and  rather  stealthy  means 
with  which  they  opposed  in  the  departments  the  insolent  and 
public  conduct  of  the  Jacobins. 

Accordingly,  tliey  denounced  them  regularly  in  the  club,  "  At 
Rome,  an  orator  cried  daily:  '  Carthage  must  be  destroyed!  '  well, 
let  a  Jacobin  mount  this  tribune  every  day.  and  say  these  single 
words:  'The  iiilrigiuifs  must  be  destroyed!'  Who  could  with- 
stand us  ?  We  oppose  crime,  and  the  ephemeral  power  of  riches ; 
but  we  have  trulli,  justice,  poverty,  and  virtue  in  our  cause. 
With  such  arms,  the  Jacobins  will  soon  have  to  say:  'We  had 
only  to  pass  on,  they  were  already  extinct.'  "     Marat,   who   was 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  241 

1793 

much  more  daring  than  Robespierre,  whose  hatred  and  projects 
still  concealed  themselves  under  certain  forms,  was  the  patron  of 
all  denouncers  and  lovers  of  anarchy.  Several  Mountaineers  re- 
proached him  with  compromising  their  cause  by  his  extreme  coun- 
sels, and  by  unseasonable  excesses;  but  the  entire  Jacobin  people 
supported  him  even  against  Robespierre,  who  rarely  obtained  the 
advantage  in  his  disputes  with  him.  The  pillage  recommended  in 
February,  in  L'Ami  du  Peuplc,  with  respect  to  some  dealers,  "  by 
way  of  example,"  took  place,  and  Marat  was  denounced  to  the 
convention,  who  decreed  his  accusation  after  a  stormy  sitting.  But 
this  decree  had  no  result,  because  the  ordinary  tribunals  had  no 
authority.  This  double  effort  of  force  on  one  side,  and  weakness 
on  the  other,  took  place  in  the  month  of  February.^  The  absolute 
breach  between  the  Girondists  and  the  Mountain  may  be  said  to 
date  from  January  20,  when  the  former  flung  down  their  defiance 
in  supporting — and  carrying — Gensonne's  motion  that  the  minister 
of  justice  initiate  proceedings  against  the  perpetrators  of  the  Sep- 
tember massacres.  The  daring  of  the  Girondists  was  great,  at 
least.  The  day  after  they  voted  against  their  wishes  for  the  king's 
execution,  and  on  January  23  Roland  resigned.  More  decisive 
events  soon  brought  the  Girondists  to  ruin. 

Hitherto,  the  military  position  of  h'rance  had  been  satisfactory. 
Dumouriez  had  just  crowned  the  brilliant  campaign  of  Argonne  by 
the  conquest  of  Belgium.  After  the  retreat  of  the  Prussians  he  had 
repaired  to  Paris  to  concert  measures  for  the  invasion  of  the  Aus- 
trian Netherlands.  Returning  to  the  army  on  October  20.  1792, 
he  began  the  attack  on  the  28th.  The  plan  attempted  so  inappro- 
priately, with  so  little  strength  and  success,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war,  was  resumed  and  executed  with  superior  means.  Du- 
mouriez, at  the  head  of  the  army  of  Belgium.  40,000  strong,  ad- 
vanced from  Valenciennes  upon  Mons,  supported  on  the  right  by 
the  army  of  the  Ardennes,  amounting  to  about  16,000  men,  under 
General  Valence,  who  marched  from  Givet  ujxmu  Xamur ;  and  on 
his  left,  by  the  army  of  the  north,  18,000  strong,  under  Genera! 
Labourdonnaie,  who  advanced  from  Lille  upon  Tournai.  Tlie 
Austrian  army,  posted  before  ]\Ions.  awaited  battle  in  its  intrench- 
ments.      Dumouriez   completely    defeated    it ;    and    the   victory   of 

^  On  tlic  mistakes  of  the  Girondists  at  tlii<  rrilicnl  time,  see  Taine,  "  Frencli 
Revolution."  vol.  Jl.  p.  .^231!.;  Mortimer  Teriiaiix.  "  Uistoirr  dc  la  Tcrrcur,"  vol. 
VII.  p.  297  fT. 


242  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

Jemmapes  opened  Belgium,  and  again  gave  to  the  French  arms 
tlie  ascendency  in  Europe.  A  victor  on  November  6,  Dumouriez 
entered  Mons  on  tlie  7th,  Brussels  on  the  14th,  and  Liege  on  the 
28th.  Valence  took  Namur,  Labourdonnaie  Antwerp;  and  by  the 
middle  of  December  the  invasion  of  the  Netherlands  was  completely 
achieved.  The  French  army,  master  of  the  Meuse  and  the  Scheldt, 
took  up  its  winter  quarters,  after  driving  beyond  the  Roer  the 
Austrians,  wliom  they  might  have  driven  beyond  the  Lower  Rhine. 

From  this  moment  hostilities  began  between  Dumouriez  and 
the  Jacobins.  A  decree  of  the  convention,  dated  November  16, 
abrogated  the  Belgian  customs  and  democratically  organized  that 
country.  This  decree  was  the  famous  "  opening  of  the  Scheldt." 
It  was  a  direct  attack  upon  the  system  of  the  balance  of  power,  and 
therefore  a  defiance  of  the  prevailing  principles  of  international 
law.  For  the  Scheldt — Antwerp — had  been  closed  to  commerce 
since  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia ;  the  act  had  been  confirmed  numer- 
ous times  in  other  European  settlements;  and  only  as  late  as  1788 
England  had  guaranteed  the  closure  to  the  house  of  Orange.  The 
war,  on  the  part  of  France,  had  become  "  a  crusade  of  democracy." 
The  convention  further  passed  a  decree  (November  19,  1792) 
offering  assistance  to  peoples  who  rose  against  their  governments; 
and  a  month  later,  on  a  motion  of  Cambon  (December  15)  declared 
that:  "Wherever  French  armies  shall  come,  all  taxes,  tithes,  and 
privileges  of  rank  are  to  be  abolished;  all  existing  authorities  an- 
nulled, and  provisional  administrators  elected  by  universal  suffrage. 
The  property  of  the  fallen  government,  of  the  privileged  classes  and 
their  adherents,  is  to  be  placed  under  French  protection."  ^ 

The  early  objects  of  the  allies — protection  against  expansion 
of  revolution  and  restoration  of  pacific  (monarchic)  govern- 
ment in  France  had  now  given  way  to  other  motives.  The  war  had 
degenerated  on  the  part  of  the  allies  into  a  war  of  aggrandizement, 
i.  e.,  "  the  just  acquisition  of  indemnities."  Austria  had  conceived 
the  idea  of  forcibly  reducing  Bavaria,  in  order  to  recompense  her- 
self for  the  loss  of  the  Austrian  Netherlands.  This  Prussia  was 
bent  on  preventing,  which  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  Prussian 
army  was  allowed  to  remain  idle  on  the  Rhine.  But  Poland  offered 
greater  rewards.  The  causes  leading  to  its  division  may  be  seen 
in  the  following  note  on  tlie  part  of  Russia:    "Should  Poland  be 

-Rose,  "  Revnhitinnary  and  Napoleonic  F.ra,"  p.  73.     The  decree  of  Novem- 
ber   19  is  in  Thiers,  "French  Revohition,"  vol.  II.  p.   188. 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  243 

1793 

firmly  and  lastingly  united  to  Saxony,  a  power  of  the  first  rank 
will  arise,  and  one  which  will  be  able  to  exercise  the  most  sensible 
pressure  upon  each  of  its  neighbors.  We  are  greatly  concerned 
in  this,  in  consequence  of  the  extension  of  our  Polish  frontier ;  and 
Prussia  is  no  less  so,  from  the  inevitable  increase  which  would 
ensue  of  Saxon  influence  in  the  German  empire.  We  therefore 
suggest  that  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Russia  should  come  to  an  inti- 
mate understanding  with  one  another  on  this  most  important 
subject."  ^ 

The  Jacobins  sent  agents  to  Belgium  to  propagate  revolutionary 
principles  and  establish  clubs  on  the  model  of  the  parent  society; 
but  the  Flemings,  who  had  received  them  with  enthusiasm,  became 
cool  at  the  heavy  demands  made  upon  them,  and  at  the  general 
pillage  and  insupportable  anarchy  which  the  Jacobins  brought  with 
them.  All  the  party  that  had  opposed  the  Austrian  army,  and 
hoped  to  be  free  under  the  protection  of  France,  found  French 
rule  too  severe,  and  regretted  having  sought  its  aid,  or  supported 
i'Vance.  Dumouriez,  who  had  projects  of  independence  for  the 
Flemings,  and  of  ambition  for  himself,  came  to  Paris  to  complain  of 
this  impolitic  conduct  with  regard  to  the  conquered  countries.  He 
changed  his  hitherto  equivocal  course ;  he  had  employed  every 
means  to  keep  on  terms  with  the  two  factions ;  he  had  ranged  him- 
self under  the  banner  of  neither,  hoping  to  make  use  of  the  Right, 
through  his  friend  Gensonne,  of  the  Mountain,  by  Danton  and 
Lacroix,  and  of  awing  both  by  his  victories.  But  in  this  second 
journey  he  tried  to  stop  the  Jacobins  and  to  sa\-e  Louis  XVL  ;  not 
having  been  able  to  attain  liis  end,  he  returned  to  the  army  to  begin 
tlie  second  campaign,  very  dissatisfied,  and  determined  to  make 
his  new  victories  the  means  of  stopping  tlie  revolution  and  chang- 
ing its  government. 

This  time  all  the  frontiers  of  iM-ance  were  to  be  attacked  by 
the  Furopean  powers.  The  military  successes  of  the  revolution, 
and  tlie  catastrophe  of  January  21,  had  made  most  of  the  undecided 
or  neutral  governments  join  the  coalition. 

The  cabinet  of  Saint  James,  on  learning  the  death  of  Louis 
XVL,  dismissed  tlie  ambassador,  Chauvelin.  whom  it  had  refused 

"Upon  tlie  influence  of  Poland  on  continental  policies  at  this  time,  and  also 
of  the  efTect  of  the  denationalization  of  Poland — the  second  partition  took  place 
in  January,  1793 — and  the  sentiments  of  tiie  convention,  see  Bourgeois,  "  Man- 
uel historiquc  de  politique  efraiii^ere."  pp.  8502;  l-\tTe.  "Modern  I-'uropc,"  vol.  1. 
pp.  S.vR-;  Von   Svlx.-!,  "  Hi-tory  of  the   I'rench   Revohuion,"  vol.   TX. 


Hii  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

to  acknowledge  since  August  lo  and  the  dethronement  of  the  king. 
The  convention,  finding  England  already  leagued  with  the  coalition, 
and  consequently  all  its  promises  of  neutrality  vain  and  illusive, 
on  February  i,  1793,  declared  war  against  the  King  of  Great  Brit- 
ain and  the  Stadtholder  of  Holland,  who  had  been  entirely  guided 
by  the  cabinet  of  Saint  James  since  1788.  England  had  hitherto 
preser^-ed  the  appearances  of  neutrality,  but  it  took  advantage  of 
this  opportunity  to  appear  on  the  scene  of  hostilities.*  For  some 
time  disposed  for  a  rupture,  Pitt  employed  all  his  resources,  and 
in  the  space  of  six  months  concluded  seven  treaties  of  alliance  and 
six  treaties  of  subsidies.  England  thus  became  the  soul  of  the 
coalition  against  France;  her  fleets  were  ready  to  sail;  the  minister 
had  obtained  3,200,000/.  extraordinary,  and  Pitt  designed  to  profit 
by  the  revolution  by  securing  the  preponderance  of  Great  Britain, 
as  Richelieu  and  Alazarin  had  taken  advantage  of  the  crisis  in 
England  in  1640  to  establish  the  French  domination  in  Europe. 
The  cabinet  of  Saint  James  was  only  influenced  by  motives  of 
English  interests ;  it  desired  at  any  cost  to  effect  the  consolidation 
of  the  aristocratical  power  at  home,  and  the  exclusive  empire  in  the 
two  Indies,  and  on  the  seas. 

The  cabinet  of  Saint  James  then  made  the  second  levee  of  the 
coalition.  Spain  had  just  undergone  a  ministerial  change;  the 
famous  Godoi,  Duke  of  Alcudia,  and  since  Prince  of  the  Peace,  had 
been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  government  by  means  of  an  intrigue 
of  England  and  of  the  emigration.  This  power  came  to  a  rupture 
with  the  republic,  after  having  interceded  in  vain  for  Louis  XVL, 
and  made  its  neutrality  the  price  of  the  life  of  the  king.  The 
German  empire  entirely  adopted  the  war;  Bavaria,  Suabia,  and  the 
Pllector  Palatine  joined  the  hostile  circles  of  the  empire.  Naples 
followed  the  example  of  the  Holy  See ;  and  the  only  neutral  powers 
were  Venice,  Switzerland,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Turkey.  Russia 
was  still  engaged  with  the  second  partition  of  Poland. 

The  republic  was  threatened  on  all  sides  by  the  most  warlike 
troops  of  Europe.  It  would  soon  have  to  face  45,000  Austro- 
Sardinians  in  the  Alps;  50,000  Spaniards  on  the  Pyrenees;  70,000 
Austrians  or  Im[)erialists,  reinforced  by  38,000  Anglo-Batavians, 
on  the  Lower  Rhine  and  in  Belgium;  33.400  Austrians  between  the 
Meuse  and  the  ]\loselle;  112,600  Prussians,  Austrians  and  Imperial- 

*  On   Knglantrs  eiitrance  into  the  struggle,  see  Oscar  Browning"^  article   in 
Fortnightly  Rciiczc.  I'chrr.ary,   i8<S2. 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  245 

1793 

ists  on  the  Middle  and  Upper  Rhine.  In  order  to  confront  so  many 
enemies,  the  convention  decreed,  February  24,  1793,  a  levy  of  300,- 
000  men.  Two  milliards  of  assignats  were  appropriated  and  eighty- 
two  members  of  the  convention  detached  as  ''  deputies  on  mission," 
for  the  oversight  of  the  armies.  This  measure  of  external  defense 
was  accompanied  by  a  party  measure  for  the  interior.  At  the  mo- 
ment the  new  battalions,  about  to  quit  Paris,  presented  themselves  to 
the  assembly,  the  Mountain  demanded  the  establishment  of  an  ex- 
traordinary tribunal  to  maintain  the  revolution  at  home,  which  the 
battalions  were  going  to  defend  on  the  frontiers.  This  tribunal, 
composed  of  nine  members,  was  to  try  without  jury  or  appeal. 
The  Girondists  arose  with  all  their  power  against  so  arbitrary  and 
formidable  an  institution,  but  it  was  in  vain ;  for  they  seemed  to  be 
favoring  the  enemies  of  the  republic  by  rejecting  a  tribunal  intended 
to  punish  them.  All  they  obtained  was  the  introduction  of  juries 
into  it,  the  removal  of  some  violent  men,  and  the  power  of  annulling 
its  acts,  as  long  as  they  maintained  any  influence. 

This  was  really  the  revival  of  an  extraordinary  tribunal  first 
created  on  August  17,  1792,  in  order  to  expedite  matters  in  the 
days  following  August  10.  It  was  abolished  by  the  Girondists  on 
November  13,  1792.  Now  on  March  9,  1793,  the  permanent  revo- 
lutionary tribunal  was  established.  Its  functions  were  to  punish 
crimes  against  the  state,  i.  e.,  traitors,  rebels,  and  counterfeiters  of 
the  assignats.  There  w^as  a  jury  until  June,  1794,  named  by  the 
judges.  The  jury  voted  openly;  there  was  no  appeal,  and  but  one 
penalty — death. ^ 

The  principal  efforts  of  the  coalition  w-ere  directed  against  the 
vast  frontier  extending  from  the  North  Sea  to  Huninguen.  The 
Prince  of  Coburg,  at  the  head  of  the  Austrians,  was  to  attack  the 
French  army  on  the  Roer  and  the  Mense,  to  enter  Belgium ;  while 
the  Prussians,  on  the  other  point,  should  march  against  Custine, 
give  him  battle,  surround  Mayence,  and  after  taking  it  renew  the 
preceding  invasion.  These  two  armies  of  operation  were  sustained 
in  the  intermediate  positions  by  considerable  forces.  Dumouriez, 
engrossed  by  ambitious  and  reactionary  designs,  at  a  moment  when 
he  ought  only  to  have  thought  of  the  perils  of  France,  proposed  to 
himself  to  establish  the  royalty  of  1791,  in  spite  of  the  convention 

"See  Campardon,  " Le  Tribunal  rcvolutionaire" ;  Wallon,  " Le  Tribunal 
rcz'olutioiiairc" ;  Wallon.  "La  Tcrrcur,"  vol.  II.  ch.  ii. ;  Stephens,  "French  Revo- 
lution," vol.  11.  pp.  .uo-443. 


246  THE     IRExXCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

and  Europe.  What  Bouille  could  not  effect  for  an  absolute  nor 
Lafayette  for  a  constitutional  throne,  Dumouriez,  at  a  time  much 
less  propitious,  hoped  alone  to  achieve  for  an  abolished  constitution 
and  for  a  royalty  without  a  party.  Listead  of  remaining  neutral 
among  factions,  as  circumstances  dictated  to  a  general,  and  even 
to  an  ambitious  man,  Dumouriez  preferred  a  rupture  with  them,  in 
order  to  sway  them.  He  conceived  a  design  of  forming  a  party 
out  of  France;  of  entering  Holland  by  means  of  the  Batavian  re- 
publicans opposed  to  the  stadtholdership,  and  to  English  influence ; 
to  deliver  Belgium  from  the  Jacobins :  to  unite  these  countries  in  a 
single  independent  state,  and  secure  for  himself  their  political  pro- 
tectorate after  having  acquired  all  the  glory  of  a  conqueror.  To 
intimidate  parties,  he  was  to  gain  over  his  troops,  march  on  the 
capital,  dissolve  the  convention,  put  down  popular  meetings,  re- 
establish the  constitution  of  1791,  and  give  a  king  to  France. 

This  project,  impracticable  amid  the  great  shock  between  the 
revolution  and  Europe,  appeared  easy  to  the  fiery  and  adventurous 
Dumouriez.  Instead  of  defending  the  line,  threatened  from  May- 
ence  to  the  Roer,  he  threw  himself  on  the  left  of  the  operations  and 
entered  Holland  at  the  head  of  20,000  men.  By  a  rapid  march  he 
was  to  reach  the  center  of  the  United  Provinces,  attack  the  for- 
tresses from  behind,  and  be  joined  at  Nimeguen  by  25,000  men 
under  General  Miranda,  who  would  probably  have  made  himself 
master  of  Maestricht.  An  army  of  40,000  men  was  to  observe  the 
Austrians  and  protect  his  right. 

Dumouriez  vigorously  prosecuted  his  expedition  into  Hol- 
land ;  he  took  Breda  and  Gertruydenberg,  and  prepared  to  pass  the 
Biesbos  and  capture  Dort.  But  the  army  of  the  right  experienced 
in  the  meantime  the  most  alarming  reverses  on  the  Lower  Meuse. 
The  Austrians  assumed  the  offensive,  passed  the  Roer,  beat  Mia- 
zinski  at  Aix-la-Chapelle;  made  Miranda  raise  the  blockade  of 
Maestricht,  which  he  had  uselessly  bombarded ;  crossed  the  Meuse, 
and  at  Liege  put  the  French  army,  which  had  fallen  back  between 
Tirlemont  and  Louvain,  wholly  to  the  rout.  Dumouriez  received 
from  the  executive  council  orders  to  leave  Holland  immediately 
and  to  take  command  of  the  troops  in  Belgium ;  he  was  compelled 
to  obey,  and  t(^  renounce  in  part  his  wildest  but  dearest  hopes. 

1  lie  Jacobins,  at  the  news  of  these  reverses,  became  much  more 
intractable;  unable  to  conceive  a  defeat  without  treachery,  es- 
pecially after  the  brilliant  and  unexpected  victories  of  the  last  cam- 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  24^1 

paign,  they  attributed  these  mihtary  disasters  to  party  combina- 
tions. They  denounced  the  Girondists,  the  ministers,  and  generals 
who,  they  supposed,  had  combined  to  abandon  the  repubhc,  and 
clamored  for  their  destruction.  Rivalry  mingled  with  suspicion, 
and  they  desired  as  much  to  acquire  an  exclusive  domination  as  to 
defend  the  threatened  territory;  they  began  with  the  Girondists. 
As  they  had  not  yet  accustomed  the  multitude  to  the  idea  of  the 
proscription  of  representatives,  they  at  first  had  recourse  to  a  plot 
to  get  rid  of  them ;  they  resolved  to  strike  them  in  the  convention, 
where  they  would  all  be  assembled,  and  the  night  of  March  lo  was 
fixed  on  for  the  execution  of  the  plot.  The  assembly  sat  per- 
manently on  account  of  the  public  danger.  It  was  decided  on  the 
preceding  day  at  the  Jacobins  and  Cordeliers  to  shut  the  barriers, 
sound  the  tocsin,  and  march  in  two  bands  on  the  convention  and 
the  ministers.  They  started  at  the  appointed  hour,  but  several 
circumstances  prevented  the  conspirators  from  succeeding.  The 
Girondists,  apprised,  did  not  attend  the  evening  sitting;  the  sections 
declared  themselves  opposed  to  the  plot,  and  Beurnonville,  minister 
of  war,  advanced  against  them  at  the  head  of  a  battalion  of  Brest 
federalists ;  these  unexpected  obstacles,  together  with  the  ceaseless 
rain,  obliged  the  conspirators  to  disperse.  The  next  day  Verg- 
niaud  denounced  the  insurrectional  committee  who  had  projected 
these  murders,  demanded  tliat  the  executive  council  should  be  com- 
missioned to  make  inquiries  respecting  the  conspiracy  of  March  lo, 
to  examine  the  registers  of  the  clubs,  and  to  arrest  the  members  of 
the  insurrectional  committee.  "  We  go,"  said  he,  "  from  crimes  to 
amnesties,  from  amnesties  to  crimes.  Xumbers  of  citizens  have 
begun  to  confound  seditious  insurrections  witli  the  great  insurrec- 
tion of  liberty;  to  look  on  the  excitement  of  rol^bers  as  the  out- 
bursts of  energetic  minds,  and  robbery  itself  as  a  measure  of  gen- 
eral security.  We  have  witnessed  the  development  of  that  strange 
system  of  liberty,  in  which  we  are  told:  'you  are  free;  but  think 
with  us,  or  we  will  denounce  you  to  tlie  vengeance  of  the  people; 
you  are  free,  but  bow  down  your  liead  to  the  idol  we  worship,  or 
we  will  denounce  vou  to  the  vengeance  of  the  people;  you  are  free, 
but  join  us  in  persecuting  the  men  whose  proljity  and  intelligence 
we  dread,  or  we  will  denounce  you  to  the  vengeance  of  the  people.' 
Citizens,  we  have  reason  to  fear  that  tlie  rexolution,  like  Saturn, 
will  devour  successively  all  its  children,  and  only  engender  despot- 
ism  and   the  calamities  which   accompany   it."       These  prophetic 


248  THE     F  REN  C  H     II  E  \  O  L  U  T  ION 


1793 


words  produced  some  effect  in  the  assembly ;  but  the  measures  pro- 
posed by  Vergniaud  led  to  nothing. 

The  Jacobins  were  stopped  for  a  moment  by  the  failure  of 
their  first  enterprise  against  their  adversaries ;  but  the  insurrection 
of  La  Vendee  gave  them  new  courage.  The  Vendean  war  was  an 
inevitable  event  in  the  revolution.  This  country,  bounded  by  the 
Loire  and  the  sea,  crossed  by  few  roads,  sprinkled  with  villages, 
hamlets,  and  manorial  residences,  had  retained  its  ancient  feudal 
state.  In  La  Vendee  there  was  no  civilization  or  intelligence,  be- 
cause there  was  no  middle  class ;  and  there  was  no  middle  class,  be- 
cause there  were  no  towns,  or  very  few.  At  that  time  the  peasants 
had  acquired  no  other  ideas  than  those  few  communicated  to  them 
by  the  priests,  and  had  not  separated  their  interests  from  those  of 
the  nobility.  These  simple  and  sturdy  men,  devotedly  attached  to 
the  old  state  of  things,  did  not  understand  a  revolution,  which  was 
tlie  result  of  a  faith  and  necessities  entirely  foreign  to  their  situa- 
tion. The  nobles  and  priests,  being  strong  in  these  districts,  had 
not  emigrated ;  and  the  ancient  regime  really  existed  there,  because 
there  were  its  doctrines  and  its  society.  Sooner  or  later,  a  war 
between  France  and  La  Vendee,  countries  so  different,  and  w^iich 
had  nothing  in  common  but  language,  was  inevitable.  It  was 
inevitable  that  the  tw'o  fanaticisms  of  monarchy  and  of  popular 
sovereignty  of  the  priesthood  and  human  reason,  should  raise  their 
banners  against  each  other,  and  bring  about  the  triumph  of  the  old 
or  of  the  new  civilization. 

Partial  disturbances  had  taken  place  several  times  in  La 
Vendee.  In  1792  the  Count  de  la  Rouairie  had  prepared  a  general 
rising,  which  failed  on  account  of  his  arrest ;  but  all  yet  remained 
ready  for  an  insurrection,  when  the  decree  for  raising  300,000  men 
was  put  into  execution."  This  levy  became  the  signal  of  revolt. 
The  Vendeans  beat  the  gendarmerie  at  Saint  Florens,  and  took  for 
leaders,  in  different  directions,  Cathelineau,  a  wagoner,  Charette,  a 
naval  officer,  and  Stofflet,  a  gamekeeper.  Aided  by  arms  and 
money  from  England,  the  insurrection  soon  overspread  the  coun- 

*  The  War  of  La  Vendee  may  be  divided  into  three  periods :  in  the  first 
(March-October.  1793),  the  Vendeans  are  successful.  In  the  second  (October, 
1793-January,  1794),  they  suffer  the  defeats  of  Cholet,  of  Mans,  and  of  Savenay, 
which  put  an  end  to  the  war  proper.  Then  began  the  guerrilla  warfare  known 
as  the  Chouannerie,  which  was  not  crushed  until  1796.  The  name  "  Chouan- 
neric"  was  derived  from  the  famous  smuggler,  Jean  Cotterau,  called  "  Le 
Chouan"— the  owl.     See  Stephens,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.   II,  p.  25917. 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  249 

1793 

try ;  900  communes  flew  to  arms  at  the  sound  of  the  tocsin ;  and  then 
the  noble  leaders,  Bonchamps,  Lescure,  La  Rochejacquelin,  D'Elbee, 
and  Talmont,  joined  the  others.  The  troops  of  the  line  and  the 
battalions  of  the  national  guard,  who  advanced  against  the  insur- 
gents were  defeated.  General  Marce  was  beaten  at  Saint  Vincent 
by  Stofflet;  General  Gauvilliers  at  Beaupreau,  by  D'Elbee  and  Bon- 
champs ;  General  Quetineau  at  Aubiers,  by  La  Rochejacquelin ;  and 
General  Ligonnier  at  Cholet.  The  Vendeans,  masters  of  Chatillon, 
Bressuire,  and  Vihiers,  considered  it  advisable  to  form  some  plan 
of  organization  before  they  pushed  their  advantages  further. 
They  formed  three  corps,  each  from  10,000  to  12,000  strong,  ac- 
cording to  tlie  division  of  La  Vendee,  under  three  commanders;  the 
first,  under  Bonchamps,  guarded  the  banks  of  the  Loire,  and  was 
called  L'Armee  d'Anjou;  the  second,  stationed  in  the  center, 
formed  the  Grande  Armee  under  D'Elbee;  the  third,  in  Lower 
Vendee,  was  styled  L'Armee  du  Marais,  vmder  Charette.  The  in- 
surgents established  a  council  to  determine  their  operations,  and 
elected  Cathelineau  generalissimo.  These  arrangements,  with  this 
division  of  the  counti-y,  enabled  them  to  enroll  tlie  insurgents,  and 
to  dismiss  them  to  their  fields,  or  call  them  to  arms. 

The  intelligence  of  this  formidable  insurrection  drove  the 
convention  to  adopt  still  more  rigorous  measures  against  priests 
and  emigrants.  It  outlawed  all  priests  and  nobles  who  took  part 
in  any  gathering,  and  disarmed  all  who  had  belonged  to  the  privi- 
leged classes.  The  former  emigrants  were  banished  forever ;  they 
could  not  return,  under  penalty  of  death;  their  property  was  con- 
fiscated. On  the  door  of  every  house  the  names  of  all  its  inmates 
were  to  be  inscribed ;  and  the  revolutionary  tribunal,  which  had 
been  adjourned,  began  its  terrible  functions. 

At  the  same  time  tidings  of  new  military  disasters  arrived, 
one  after  tlie  otlier.  Dumouriez,  returned  to  the  army  of  Bel- 
gium, concentrated  all  his  forces  to  resist  the  Austrian  gen- 
eral, the  Prince  of  Coburg.  His  troops  were  greatly  discouraged 
and  in  want  of  everything;  he  wrote  to  the  convention  a  threatening 
letter  against  the  Jacobins,  who  denounced  him.  After  having 
again  restored  to  his  army  a  part  of  its  former  confidence  by  some 
minor  advantages,  he  ventured  a  general  action  at  Neerwinden 
(March  18,  1793)  ^md  lt)st  it.  Belgium  was  evacuated,  and  Du- 
mouriez, placed  between  the  Austrians  and  Jacobins,  beaten  by  the 
one  and  assailed  by  the  other,  had  recourse  to  the  guilty  project  of 


250  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

defection,  in  order  to  realize  his  former  designs.  He  had  confer- 
ences with  Colonel  Mack,  and  agreed  with  the  Austrians  to  march 
upon  Paris  for  the  purpose  of  reestablishing  the  monarchy,  leaving 
them  on  the  frontiers,  and  having  first  given  up  to  them  several 
fortresses  as  a  guarantee.  It  is  probable  that  Dumouriez  wished 
to  place  on  the  constitutional  throne  the  young  Duke  de  Chartres,'^ 
who  had  distinguished  himself  throughout  this  campaign;  while 
the  Prince  of  Coburg  ^  hoped  that  if  the  counter-revolution  reached 
that  point,  it  would  be  carried  further  and  restore  the  son  of  Louis 
XVI.  and  the  ancient  monarchy.  A  counter-revolution  will  not 
halt  any  more  than  a  revolution;  when  once  begun,  it  must  ex- 
haust itself.  The  Jacobins  were  soon  informed  of  Dumouriez's 
arrangements ;  he  took  little  precaution  to  conceal  them ;  w'hether 
he  wished  to  try  his  troops,  or  to  alarm  his  enemies,  or  whether 
he  merely  followed  his  natural  levity.  To  be  more  sure  of  his 
designs,  the  Jacobin  Club  sent  to  him  a  deputation,  consisting  of 
Proly,  Pereria,  and  Dubuisson,  three  of  its  members.  Taken  to 
Dumouriez's  presence,  they  received  from  him  more  admissions 
than  they  expected.  "  The  convention,"  said  he,  "  is  an  assembly 
of  735  tyrants.  While  I  have  four  inches  of  iron  I  will  not  suffer 
it  to  reign  and  shed  blood  with  the  revolutionary  tribunal  it  has 
just  created;  as  for  the  republic,"  he  added,  "it  is  an  idle  word. 
I  had  faith  in  it  for  three  days.  Since  Jemmapes  I  have  deplored 
all  the  successes  I  obtained  in  so  bad  a  cause.  There  is  only  one 
way  to  save  the  country — that  is,  to  reestablish  the  constitution  of 
1791,  and  a  king."  "  Can  you  think  of  it,  general?  "  said  Dubuis- 
son ;  "  the  French  view  royalty  with  horror — the  very  name  of 

Louis "     "  What  does  it  signify  whether  the  king  be  called 

Louis,  Jacques,  or  Philippe?"  "And  what  are  your  means?" 
"  My  army — yes,  my  army  will  do  it,  and  from  my  camp,  or  the 

''Afterward  King  Louis  Philippe  (1830-1848).  He  distinguished  himself  at 
both  Valmy  and  Neerwinden.  He  refused  to  bear  arms  against  his  country. 
For  a  time  he  taught  mathematics  in  Suabian  Germany;  went  to  Sweden,  and 
sailed  thence  to  the  United  States  in  1796;  later  he  lived  for  many  years  in 
England,  and  returned  to  France  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  Consult  Stephens, 
"French  Revolution,"  vol.  H.  pp.  224-231,  on  Neerwinden. 

*  Coburg  was  the  Austrian  commander;  he  signed  the  armistice  with  reluc- 
tance, although  Dumouriez  offered  to  surrender  the  border  fortresses  in  proof  of 
his  sincerity.  Everything  fell  to  the  ground  when  the  convention  suspected 
Dumouriez's  treachery,  and  he  had  no  other  recourse.  But  Austria  seems  to  have 
been  suspicious  of  him,  too,  and  would  not  accept  his  services.  He  died  in  1823, 
a  pensioner  of  the  English  government. 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  251 

1793 

stronghold  of  some  fortress,  it  will  express  its  desire  for  a  king." 
"  But  our  project  endangers  the  safety  of  the  prisoners  in  the 
Temple."  "  Should  the  last  of  the  Bourbons  be  killed,  even  those 
of  Coblentz,  France  shall  still  have  a  king,  and  if  Paris  were  to  add 
this  murder  to  those  which  have  already  dishonored  it,  I  would  in- 
stantly march  upon  it."  After  thus  unguardedly  disclosing  his  in- 
tentions, Dumouriez  proceeded  to  the  execution  of  his  impracti- 
cable design.  He  was  really  in  a  very  difficult  position ;  the  soldiers 
were  very  much  attached  to  him,  but  they  were  also  devoted  to 
their  country.  He  was  to  surrender  some  fortresses  which  he  was 
not  master  of,  and  it  was  to  be  supposed  that  the  generals  under 
his  orders,  either  from  fidelity  to  the  republic  or  from  ambition, 
would  treat  him  as  he  had  treated.  Lafayette.  His  first  attempt 
was  not  encouraging;  after  having  established  himself  at  Saint 
Amand,  he  essayed  to  possess  himself  of  Lille,  Conde,  and  Valen- 
ciennes, but  failed  in  this  enterprise.  The  failure  made  him  hesi- 
tate, and  prevented  his  taking  the  initiative  in  the  attack. 

It  was  not  so  with  the  convention ;  it  acted  with  a  promptitude, 
a  boldness,  a  firmness,  and  above  all,  with  a  precision  in  attaining 
its  object,  which  rendered  success  certain.  When  we  know  what 
we  want,  and  desire  it  determinately  and  promptly,  we  nearly 
always  attain  our  object.  This  quality  was  wanting  in  Dumouriez, 
and  the  want  impeded  his  audacity  and  deterred  his  partisans.  As 
soon  as  the  convention  was  informed  of  his  projects  it  summoned 
him  to  its  bar.  Lie  refused  to  obey;  without,  however,  immedi- 
ately raising  the  standard  of  revolt.  The  convention  instantly 
dispatched  four  representatives,  Camus,  Ouinette,  Lamarque  Ban- 
cal,  and  Beurnonville,  minister  of  war,  to  bring  him  before  it,  or 
to  arrest  him  in  the  midst  of  his  arm}'.  This  is  the  first  use  of  a 
practice  which  soon  became  formidable.  The  representatives  on 
mission  were  endowed  with  the  full  powers  of  the  committee  of 
public  safety.  Like  the  ancient  intcndants,  they  were  first  attached 
to  the  armies.  Conspicuous  among  them  were  Saint-Just,  with  the 
army  of  the  Rhine;  ]\Ierlin  of  Thionville  in  Maine  and  La  Vendee; 
the  younger  Robespierre  at  Toulon;  Couthon.  Collot-d'Herbois 
and  Louche,  at  I>yon ;  Carrier  at  Nantes;  Tallien  at  Bordeaux. 
Dumouriez  received  tlie  commissioners  at  the  head  of  his  staff. 
They  presented  to  him  the  decree  of  tlie  convention;  he  read  it  and 
returned  it  to  t1iem,  saying  that  tlie  state  of  his  army  would  not 
admit  of  his  leaving  it.     He  offered  to  resign,  and  promised  in  a 


252  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

calmer  season  to  demand  judges  himself,  and  to  give  an  account  of 
his  designs  and  of  his  conduct.  The  commissioners  tried  to  induce 
him  to  submit,  quoting  the  example  of  the  ancient  Roman  gen- 
erals. "  We  are  always  mistaken  in  our  quotations,"  he  replied ; 
"  and  we  disfigure  Roman  history  by  taking  as  an  excuse  for  our 
crimes  the  example  of  their  virtues.  The  Romans  did  not  kill 
Tarquin;  the  Romans  had  a  well  ordered  republic  and  good  laws; 
they  had  neither  a  Jacobin  Club  nor  a  revolutionary  tribunal.  We 
live  in  a  time  of  anarchy.  Tigers  wish  for  my  head ;  I  will  not  give 
it  them."  "  Citizen  general,"  said  Camus  then,  "  will  you  obey  the 
decree  of  the  national  convention,  and  repair  to  Paris?  "  "  Not  at 
present."  "  Well,  then,  I  declare  that  I  suspend  you ;  you  are  no 
longer  a  general;  I  order  your  arrest."  "  This  is  too  much,"  said 
Dumouriez;  and  he  had  the  commissioners  arrested  by  German 
hussars,  and  delivered  them  as  hostages  to  the  Austrians.  After 
this  act  of  revolt  he  could  no  longer  hesitate.  Dumouriez  made 
another  attempt  on  Conde,  but  it  succeeded  no  better  than  the  first. 
He  tried  to  induce  the  army  to  join  him,  but  was  forsaken  by  it. 
The  soldiers  were  likely  for  a  long  time  to  prefer  the  republic  to 
their  general;  the  attachment  to  the  revolution  was  in  all  its  fervor, 
and  the  civil  power  in  all  its  force.  Dumouriez  experienced,  in 
declaring  himself  against  the  convention,  the  fate  which  Lafayette 
experienced  when  he  declared  himself  against  the  legislative  as- 
sembly, and  Bouille  when  he  declared  against  the  constituent 
assembly.  At  this  period,  a  general,  combining  the  firmness  of 
Bouille  with  the  patriotism  and  popularity  of  Lafayette,  with  the 
victories  and  resources  of  Dumouriez,  would  have  failed  as  they 
did.  The  revolution,  with  the  movement  imparted  to  it,  was  nec- 
essarily stronger  than  parties,  than  generals,  and  than  Europe. 
Dumouriez  went  over  to  the  Austrian  camp  with  the  Duke  de 
Chartres,  Colonel  Thouvenot,  and  two  squadrons  of  Berchiny, 
April  4,  1793.  The  rest  of  his  army  went  to  the  camp  at  Famars 
and  joined  the  troops  commanded  by  Dampierre. 

The  convention,  on  learning  the  arrest  of  the  commissioners, 
established  itself  as  a  permanent  assembly;  declared  Dumouriez  a 
traitor  to  his  country,  authorized  any  citizen  to  attack  him,  set  a 
price  on  his  head,  decreed  the  famous  committee  of  public  safety, 
and  banished  the  Duke  of  Orleans  and  all  the  Bourbons  from  the  re- 
public. The  convention  did  its  work  through  the  medium  of  sixteen 
committees,  of  which  the  committee  of  general  defense  and  the  com- 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  253 

1793 

mittee  of  public  safety  were  much  the  most  important.  The  former 
was  created  in  January,  1793  ;  it  was  composed  of  twenty-four  mem- 
bers. It  originally  included  nine  Girondists — Petion,  Gensonne, 
Vergniaud,  Buzot,  Guadet,  Condorcet,  Isnard,  Lasource ;  nine  of  the 
Plain,  of  whom  Barrere,  Sieyes,  Cambaceres  and  Camus  were  the 
principal ;  and  six  of  the  Mountain,  including  Danton,  Robespierre, 
and  Camille  Desmoulins.  The  defection  of  Dumouriez  so  alarmed 
the  convention  that  on  April  6  Isnard  moved  to  concentrate  execu- 
tive power  in  the  hands  of  nine  members,  to  be  known  as  the  com- 
mittee of  public  safety.  Its  conferences  were  to  be  secret  and  it 
was  to  have  a  fund  at  its  disposal,  of  which  it  did  not  have  to  give 
particular  account.  Theoretically,  the  members  were  to  be  renewed 
every  three  months,  but  the  rule  was  a  dead  letter  from  the  begin- 
ning. Until  after  Thermidor  the  only  changes  were  those  due  to 
politics,  i.  c,  after  June  2,  1793,  all  the  Girondists  were  expelled 
from  it;  after  April,  1794,  all  the  Dantonists.  The  committee  of 
public  safety  divided  itself  into  these  groups:  (i)  the  gens  d'ex- 
amen,  who,  like  Carnot  and  Cambon,  gave  their  whole  attention  to 
external  events  or  general  administrative  questions ;  the  gens  rcvohi- 
tionaires,  Collot  d'Herbois,  Barrere,  Billaud-Varennes,  who  were 
genuine  terrorists  under  the  remaining  three,  Robespierre,  Danton, 
Hebert — later  Robespierre,  Couthon,  and  Saint-Just,  who  were 
the  political  chiefs.  Local  committees  of  public  safety  were 
created  in  each  section  of  Paris  and  in  every  commune.  The 
widespread  organization  of  the  Jacobin  clubs  made  this  an  easy 
matter. 

Although  the  Girondists  had  assailed  Dumouriez  as  warmly 
as  had  the  INIountaineers,  they  were  accused  of  being  his  accom- 
plices, and  this  was  a  new  cause  of  complaint  added  to  the  rest. 
Their  enemies  became  every  day  more  powerful ;  and  it  was  in  mo- 
ments of  public  peril  that  they  were  especially  dangerous.  Hitherto, 
in  the  struggle  between  the  two  parties,  they  had  carried  the  day 
on  every  point.  They  had  stopped  all  inquiries  into  the  massacres 
of  September;  they  had  maintained  the  usurpation  of  the  com- 
mune; they  had  obtained,  first  the  trial,  then  the  death,  of  Louis 
XVI.;  through  their  means  the  plunderings  of  February  and  the 
conspiracy  of  ]\larch  10  had  remained  unpunished;  they  had  pro- 
cured the  erection  of  the  revolutionary  tribunal  despite  the  Giron- 
dists; they  had  driven  Roland  from  the  ministry  in  disgust;  and 
they  had  just  defeated  Dumouriez.     It  only  remained  now  to  de- 


254  THE     FRENCH    REVOLUTION 


1793 


prive  the  Girondists  of  their  last  asylum — ^the  assembly;  this  they 
set  about  on  April  lo,  and  accomplished  on  June  2. 

Robespierre  attacked  by  name  Brissot,  Guadet,  Vergniaud, 
Petion,  and  Gensonne  in  the  convention;  Marat  denounced  them 
in  the  popular  societies.  As  president  of  the  Jacobins,  he  wrote 
an  address  to  the  departments,  in  which  he  invoked  the  thunder 
of  petitions  and  accusations  against  the  traitors  and  faithless  dele- 
gates who  had  sought  to  save  the  tyrant  by  an  appeal  to  the  public 
or  his  imprisonment.  The  Right  and  the  Plain  of  the  convention 
felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  unite.  Marat  was  sent  before  the 
revolutionary  tribunal.  This  news  set  the  clubs  in  motion,  the 
people,  and  the  commune.  By  way  of  reprisal,  Pache,  the  mayor, 
came  in  the  name  of  thirty-five  sections  and  of  the  general  council 
to  demand  the  expulsion  of  the  principal  Girondists.  Young  Boyer 
Fonfrede  required  to  be  included  in  the  proscription  of  his  col- 
leagues, and  the  members  of  the  Right  and  the  Plain  rose,  exclaim- 
ing: "All!  all!"  This  petition,  though  declared  calumnious,  was 
the  first  attack  upon  the  convention  from  without,  and  it  prepared 
the  public  mind  for  the  destruction  of  the  Gironde. 

The  accusation  of  Marat  was  far  from  intimidating  the 
Jacobins  who  accompanied  him  to  the  revolutionary  tribunal. 
Marat  was  acquitted  April  24,  1793,  and  borne  in  triumph  to  the 
assembly.  It  was  evident  that  the  conflict  could  not  end  except 
in  the  extermination  of  one  of  the  two  adversaries.  The  Girondists 
still  had  the  aid  of  the  Plain,  and  thanks  to  the  latter  Isnard  was 
made  president  of  the  convention  on  May  16.  Then  the  com- 
mune and  the  Jacobin  Club  anew  demanded  the  expulsion  of  the 
Girondist  leaders.  On  May  18  the  Girondists,  by  decree,  estab- 
lished a  committee  of  twelve,  all  of  the  party,  authorized  to  take 
the  necessary  measures  to  secure  public  peace.  The  first  act  of  this 
committee  was  to  arrest  Hebert,  the  editor  of  the  atrocious  paper 
known  as  Lc  Pere  Duchesne.  A  week  later  the  commune  de- 
manded the  liberation  of  Hebert  and  the  suppression  of  the  twelve. 
One  section  even  went  so  far  as  to  demand  their  trial  before  the 
revolutionary  tribunal.  Isnard,  in  replying,  sustained  the  authority 
of  the  convention  and  defied  the  communards  in  the  most  haughty 
terms.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the  sections  rose  in  revolt, 
and  on  the  night  of  May  27-28  some  deputies  of  the  Mountain^ 
with  whom  citizens  of  Paris  were  mingled  upon  the  benches,  voted 
the  suppression  of  the  committee  of  twelve  and  the  arrest  of  many 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  255 

1793 

of  the  Girondists.  But  the  latter  bravely  stood  their  ground  and 
carried  the  day.  The  communards  had  no  other  recourse  but  more 
violent  revolt.  Thus  was  the  way  paved  for  the  famous  rising 
of  May  31. 

From  that  moment  the  approaches  to  the  hall  were  thronged 
with  daring  sans-culottes,  and  the  partisans  of  the  Jacobins  filled 
the  galleries  of  the  convention.  The  clubists  and  Robespierre's 
tricoteuses  (knitters)  constantly  interrupted  the  speakers  of  the 
Right,  and  disturbed  the  debate;  while  without,  every  opportunity 
was  sought  to  get  rid  of  the  Girondists.  Ilenriot,  commandant  of 
the  section  of  sans-culottes,  excited  against  them  the  battalions 
about  to  march  for  La  Vendee.  Guadet  then  saw  that  it  was  time 
for  something  more  than  complaints  and  speeches ;  he  ascended 
the  tribune.  "  Citizens,"  said  he,  "  while  virtuous  men  content 
themselves  with  bewailing  the  misfortunes  of  the  country,  con- 
spirators are  active  for  its  ruin.  With  Caesar  they  say:  '  Let  them 
talk,  we  will  act.'  Well,  then,  do  you  act  also.  The  evil  consists 
in  the  impunity  of  the  conspirators  of  IMarch  10;  the  evil  is  in 
anarchy;  the  evil  is  in  the  existence  of  the  authorities  of  Paris — 
authorities  striving  at  once  for  gain  and  dominion.  Citizens,  there 
is  yet  time ;  you  may  save  the  republic  and  your  compromised 
glory.  I  propose  to  abolish  the  Paris  authorities,  to  replace  within 
twenty-four  hours  the  municipality  by  the  presidents  of  the  sec- 
tions, to  assemble  the  convention  at  Bourges  with  the  least  possible 
delay,  and  to  transmit  this  decree  to  the  departments  l)y  extraordi- 
nary couriers."  The  ^Mountain  was  surprised  for  a  moment  by 
Guadet's  motion.  Had  his  measures  been  at  once  adopted,  there 
would  have  been  an  end  to  the  domination  of  the  commune,  and 
to  the  projects  of  the  conspirators ;  but  it  is  also  probable  that  the 
agitation  of  parties  would  have  brought  on  a  civil  war,  that  the 
convention  would  have  been  dissolved  by  the  assembly  at  Bourges, 
that  all  center  of  action  would  have  been  destroyed,  and  that  the 
revolution  would  not  have  been  sufficiently  strong  to  contend 
against  internal  struggles  and  the  attacks  of  Europe.  This  was 
what  the  moderate  party  in  tlie  assembly  feared.  Dreading  an- 
archy if  the  career  of  the  commune  was  not  stopped,  and  counter- 
revolution if  the  multitude  were  too  closely  kept  down,  its  aim 
was  to  maintain  the  balance  between  the  two  extremes  of  the  con- 
vention. This  party  comprised  tlie  committees  of  general  safety 
and  of  public  safety.     It  was  directed  by  I';irrcrc,  who,  like  all  men 


256  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

of  Upright  intentions  but  weak  characters,  advocated  moderation 
so  long  as  fear  did  not  make  him  an  instrument  of  cruelty  and 
tyranny.  Instead  of  Guadet's  decisive  measures,  he  proposed  to 
nominate  an  extraordinary  commission  of  twelve  members, 
deputed  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the  municipality;  to  seek  out 
the  authors  of  the  plots  against  the  national  representatives,  and 
to  secure  their  persons.  This  middle  course  was  adopted;  but  it 
left  the  commune  in  existence,  and  the  commune  was  destined  to 
triumph  over  the  convention. 

The  commission  of  twelve  threw  the  members  of  the  com- 
mune into  great  alarm  by  its  inquiries.  It  discovered  a  new  con- 
spiracy, which  was  to  be  put  into  execution  on  May  22,  and  ar- 
rested some  of  the  conspirators,  and  among  others,  Hebert,  the 
deputy  recorder,  editor  of  Pere  Duchesne^  who  was  taken  in  the 
very  bosom  of  the  municipality.  The  commune,  at  first  astounded, 
began  to  take  measures  of  defense.  From  that  moment,  not  con- 
spiracy, but  insurrection  was  the  order  of  the  day.  The  general 
council,  encouraged  by  the  Mountain,  surrounded  itself  with  the 
agitators  of  the  capital;  it  circulated  a  report  that  the  twelve 
wished  to  purge  the  convention,  and  to  substitute  a  counter-revolu- 
tionary tribunal  for  that  which  had  acquitted  Marat.  The  Jacobins, 
the  Cordeliers,  the  sections,  sat  permanently.  On  May  26  the  agi- 
tation became  perceptible;  on  the  27th  it  was  sufficiently  decided 
to  induce  the  commune  to  open  the  attack.  It  accordingly  appeared 
before  the  convention  and  demanded  the  liberation  of  Hebert  and 
the  suppression  of  the  twelve;  it  was  accompanied  by  the  deputies 
of  the  sections,  who  expressed  the  same  desire,  and  the  hall  was 
surrounded  by  a  large  mob.  The  section  of  the  city  even  presumed 
to  require  that  the  twelve  should  be  brought  before  the  revolu- 
tionary tribunal.  Isnard,  president  of  the  assembly,  replied,  in  a 
solemn  tone:  "Listen  to  what  I  am  about  to  say.  If  ever  by  one 
of  those  insurrections,  of  such  frequent  recurrence  since  March  10, 
and  of  which  the  magistrates  have  never  apprised  the  assembly,  a 

^  The  newspapers  of  Paris  during  the  revolution  were  legion  and  of  every 
shade  of  poHtics.  The  most  prominent  royaHst  journals  were  the  Journal  dc  la 
Cour  et  de  la  Ville,  the  Journal  des  Holies,  the  Ami  dn  Roi,  the  Actes  dcs 
Apotres.  Of  revohitionary  journals  may  be  mentioned  the  Revolutions  de 
Paris,  edited  by  Loustallot,  the  Orateur  du  Peuple,  edited  by  Freron,  the  Revolu- 
tion de  France  et  de  Brabant,  edited  by  Camille  Dcsmoulins,  the  Point  de  Jours, 
by  Barrerc.  The  worst  sheets  were  the  Ami  du  Peuple,  of  Marat,  and  the  Pcre 
Duchesne,  of  Hebert. 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  257 

1793 

hostile  hand  be  raised  against  the  national  representatives,  I  de- 
clare to  you  in  the  name  of  all  France,  Paris  will  be  destroyed. 
Yes,  universal  France  would  rise  to  avenge  such  a  crime,  and  soon 
it  would  be  matter  of  doubt  on  which  side  of  the  Seine  Paris  had 
stood."  This  reply  became  the  signal  for  great  tumult.  "  And  I 
declare  to  you,"  exclaimed  Danton,  "  that  so  much  impudence 
begins  to  be  intolerable;  we  will  resist  you."  Then  turning  to  the 
Right,  he  added :  "  No  truce  between  the  Mountain  and  the 
cowards  who  wished  to  save  the  tyrant." 

The  utmost  confusion  now  reigned  in  the  hall.  The  strangers' 
galleries  vociferated  denunciations  of  the  Right ;  the  Mountain 
broke  forth  into  menaces ;  e\'ery  moment  deputations  arrived  with- 
out, and  the  convention  was  surrounded  by  an  immense  multitude. 
A  few  sectionaries  of  the  IMail  and  of  the  Butte-des-Moulins,  com- 
manded by  Raffet,  drew  up  in  the  passages  and  avenues  to  defend 
it.  The  Girondists  withstood,  as  long  as  they  could,  the  deputa- 
tions and  the  Mountain.  Threatened  within,  besieged  without, 
they  would  have  availed  themselves  of  this  violence  to  arouse  the 
indignation  of  the  assembly.  But  the  minister  of  the  interior, 
Garat,  deprived  them  of  this  resource.  Called  upon  to  give  an 
account  of  the  state  of  Paris,  he  declared  that  the  convention  had 
nothing  to  fear;  and  the  opinion  of  Garat,  who  was  considered 
impartial,  and  whose  conciliatory  turn  of  mind  involved  him  in 
equivocal  proceedings,  emboldened  the  members  of  the  M(mntain. 
Isnard  was  obliged  to  resign  the  chair,  which  was  taken  by  Merault 
de  Sechelles,  a  sign  of  victory  for  the  ]\Tounta!n.  The  new  presi- 
dent replied  to  the  petitioners,  whom  Isnard  had  hitherto  kept  in 
the  background.  "  The  power  of  reason  and  the  power  of  the 
people  are  the  same  thing.  You  demand  from  us  a  magistrate  and 
justice.  The  representatives  of  the  people  will  give  you  both."  It 
was  now  very  late;  the  Right  was  discouraged,  some  of  its  mem- 
bers had  left,  llic  petitioners  had  moved  from  the  hall  to  the 
seats  of  the  representatives,  and  there,  mixed  up  with  the  ^^loun- 
tain,  with  outcry  and  disorder,  they  voted,  all  together,  for  the 
dismissal  of  the  twelve  and  the  liberation  of  the  prisoners.  It 
was  at  half-past  twelve,  amid  the  applause  of  the  galleries  and 
the  people  outside,  that  this  decree  was  passed. 

It  would,  perhaps,  have  been  wise  on  the  part  of  the  Gi- 
rondists, since  tliev  were  really  not  the  strongest  party,  to  have 
made  no  recurrence  to  this  matter.     The  movement  of  the  prcced- 


258  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

ing  clay  would  have  had  no  other  result  than  the  suppression  of 
the  twelve,  if  other  causes  had  not  prolonged  it.  But  animosity 
had  attained  such  a  height  that  it  had  become  necessary  to  bring 
the  quarrel  to  an  issue ;  since  the  two  parties  could  not  endure  each 
other,  the  only  alternative  was  for  them  to  fight;  they  must  needs 
go  on  from  victory  to  defeat,  and  from  defeat  to  victory,  growing 
more  and  more  excited  every  day,  until  the  strongest  finally  tri- 
umphed over  the  weaker  party.  Next  day  the  Right  regained  its 
position  in  the  convention;  they  declared  the  decree  of  the  pre- 
ceding day  illegally  passed,  in  tumult  and  under  compulsion,  and 
the  commission  was  reestablished.  "  You  yesterday,"  said  Danton, 
"  did  a  great  act  of  justice;  but  I  declare  to  you,  if  the  commission 
retains  the  tyrannical  power  it  has  hitherto  exercised;  if  the  magis- 
trates of  the  people  are  not  restored  to  their  functions;  if  good 
citizens  are  again  exposed  to  arbitrary  arrest;  then,  after  having 
proved  to  you  that  we  surpass  our  enemies  in  prudence,  in  wisdom, 
we  shall  surpass  them  in  audacity  and  revolutionary  vigor."  Dan- 
ton  feared  to  commence  the  attack;  he  dreaded  the  triumph  of  the 
jMountain  as  much  as  he  did  that  of  the  Girondists :  he  accordingly 
sought,  by  turns,  to  anticipate  May  31,  and  to  moderate  its  results. 
But  he  was  reduced  to  join  his  own  party  during  the  conflict,  and 
to  remain  silent  after  the  victory. 

The  agitation,  which  had  been  a  little  allayed  by  the  sup- 
pression of  the  twelve,  became  threatening  at  the  news  of  their 
restoration.  The  benches  of  the  sections  and  popular  societies 
resounded  with  invectives,  with  cries  of  danger,  with  calls  to  in- 
surrection. Hebert,  having  quitted  his  prison,  reappeared  at  the 
commune.  A  crown  was  placed  on  his  brow,  which  he  trans- 
ferred to  tlie  bust  of  Brutus,  and  then  rushed  to  the  Jacobins  to 
demand  \engeance  of  the  twelve.  Robespierre,  ]\Iarat,  Danton, 
Chaumette,  and  Pache  then  combined  in  organizing  a  new  move- 
ment. The  insurrection  was  modeled  on  that  of  August  10.  May 
29  was  occupied  in  preparing  the  public  mind.  On  the  30th  mem- 
bers of  the  electoral  college,  commissioners  of  the  clubs,  and 
deputies  of  sections  assembled  at  the  Eveche,  declared  themselves 
in  a  state  of  insurrection,  dissolved  the  general  council  of  the  com- 
mune, and  immediately  reconstituted  it,  making  it  take  a  new  oath ; 
Henriot  received  the  title  of  commandant-general  of  the  armed 
force,  and  the  sans-culottes  were  assigned  forty  sous  a  day  while 
under  arms.     These  preparations  made,  early  on  the  morning  of 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  259 

1793 

the  31st  the  tocsin  rang,  the  drums  beat  to  arms,  the  troops  were 
assembled,  and  all  marched  toward  the  convention,  which  for  some 
time  past  had  held  its  sittings  at  the  Tuileries. 

The  assembly  had  met  at  the  sound  of  the  tocsin.  The  min- 
ister of  the  interior,  the  administrators  of  the  department,  and 
the  mayor  of  Paris  had  been  summoned,  in  succession,  to  the  bar. 
Garat  had  given  an  account  of  the  agitated  state  of  Paris,  but 
appeared  to  apprehend  no  dangerous  result.  L'Huillier,  in  the  name 
of  the  department,  declared  it  was  only  a  moral  insurrection. 
Pache,  the  mayor,  appeared  last,  and  informed  them,  with  a  In-po- 
critical  air,  of  the  operations  of  the  insurgents;  he  pretended  that 
he  had  employed  every  means  to  maintain  order;  assured  them 
that  the  guard  of  the  convention  had  been  doubled,  and  that  he  had 
prohibited  the  firing  of  the  alarm  cannon ;  yet,  at  the  same  moment, 
the  cannon  was  heard  in  the  distance.  The  surprise  and  excite- 
ment of  the  assembly  were  extreme.  Cambon  exhorted  the  mem- 
bers to  union,  and  called  upon  the  people  in  the  strangers'  gallery 
to  be  silent.  "  Under  these  extraordinary  circumstances,"  said  he, 
"  the  only  way  of  frustrating  the  designs  of  the  malcontents  is  to 
make  the  national  convention  respected.''  "  I  demand,"  said 
Thuriot,  "  the  immediate  abolition  of  the  commission  of  twelve." 
"  And  I,"  cried  Tallien,  "  that  the  sword  of  the  law  may  strike  the 
conspirators  who  profane  the  very  bosom  of  the  convention."  The 
Girondists,  on  their  part,  required  tliat  the  audacious  Henriot 
should  be  called  to  the  bar  for  having  fired  the  alarm  cannon 
without  the  permission  of  the  convention.  "If  a  struggle  take 
place,"  said  Vergniaud,  "  be  the  success  what  it  may,  it  will  be  the 
ruin  of  the  republic.  Let  every  member  swear  to  die  at  his  post." 
The  entire  assembly  rose,  a])plauding  tlie  proposition.  Danton 
rushed  to  the  tribune:  "Break  up  the  commission  of  twelve!  you 
have  heard  the  thunder  of  the  cannon.  If  you  are  politic  legis- 
lators, far  from  blaming  tlie  outbreak  of  Paris,  you  will  turn  it  to 
the  profit  of  the  rcpulilic,  by  reforming  your  own  errors,  by  dis- 
missing your  commission.  I  address  those,"  he  continued,  on 
hearing  murmurs  around  him,  "  who  possess  some  political  talent, 
not  dullards,  who  can  only  act  and  speak  in  obedience  to  their 
passions.  Consider  the  grandeur  (.f  your  aim;  it  is  to  save  the 
people  from  tlicir  foes,  from  the  aristocrats,  to  save  them  from 
their  own  blind  furv.  If  a  few  men.  really  dangerous,  no  matter 
to  what  party  they  belong,  should  then  seek  to  prcjlong  a  move- 


260  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

nient,  because  useless,  by  your  act  of  justice,  Paris  itself  will  hurl 
them  back  into  their  original  insignificance.  I  calmly,  simply,  and 
deliberately  demand  the  suppression  of  the  commission,  on  political 
grounds."  The  commission  was  violently  attacked  on  one  side, 
feebly  defended  on  the  other;  Barrere  and  the  committee  of  public 
safety,  who  were  its  creators,  proposed  its  suppression,  in  order  to 
restore  i>eace,  and  to  save  the  assembly  from  being  left  to  the  mercy 
of  the  multitude.  The  moderate  portion  of  the  Mountain  were 
about  to  adopt  this  concession,  when  the  deputations  arrived.  The 
members  of  the  department,  those  of  the  municipality,  and  the 
commissaries  of  sections,  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  demanded  not 
merely  the  suppression  of  the  twelve,  but  also  the  punishment  of 
the  moderate  members,  and  of  all  the  Girondist  chiefs. 

The  Tuileries  was  completely  blockaded  by  the  insurgents; 
and  the  presence  of  their  commissaries  in  the  convention  embold- 
ened the  extreme  Mountain,  who  were  desirous  of  destroying  the 
Girondist  party.  Robespierre,  their  leader  and  orator,  spoke : 
"  Citizens,  let  us  not  lose  this  day  in  vain  clamors  and  unnecessary 
measures;  this  is,  perhaps,  the  last  day  in  which  patriotism  will 
combat  with  tyranny.  Let  the  faithful  representatives  of  the 
people  combine  to  secure  their  happiness."  He  urged  the  con- 
vention to  follow  the  course  pointed  out  by  the  petitioners  rather 
than  that  proposed  by  the  committee  of  public  safety.  He  was 
thundering  forth  a  lengthened  declamation  against  his  adversaries, 
when  Vergniaud  interfered:  "Conclude  this!" — "I  am  about  to 
conclude,  and  against  you !  Against  you,  who,  after  the  revolu- 
tion of  August  lo,  sought  to  bring  to  the  scaffold  those  who  had 
effected  it.  Against  you,  who  have  never  ceased  in  a  course  which 
involved  the  destruction  of  Paris.  Against  you,  who  desired  to 
save  the  tyrant.  Against  you,  who  conspired  with  Dumouriez. 
Against  you,  who  fiercely  persecuted  the  same  patriots  whose  heads 
Dumouriez  demanded.  Against  you,  whose  criminal  vengeance 
provoked  those  cries  of  vengeance  which  j^ou  seek  to  make  a  crime 
in  your  victims.  I  conclude :  my  conclusion  is — I  propose  a  decree 
of  accusation  against  all  the  accomplices  of  Dumouriez,  and 
against  those  who  are  indicated  by  the  petitioners."  Notwith- 
standing tlie  violence  of  this  outbreak,  Robespierre's  party  were 
not  victorious.  The  insurrection  had  only  been  directed  against 
the  twelve,  and  the  committee  of  public  safety,  who  proposed 
their  suppression,  prevailed    over    the    commune.      The  assembly 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  261 

1793 

adopted  the  decree  of  Barrere,  which  dissolved  the  tweh-e,  placed 
the  public  force  in  permanent  requisition  and,  to  satisfy  the  peti- 
tioners, directed  the  committee  of  public  safety  to  inquire  into 
the  conspiracies  which  they  denounced.  As  soon  as  the  multitude 
surrounding  the  assembly  was  informed  of  these  measures  it 
received  them  with  applause   and  dispersed. 

But  the  conspirators  were  not  disposed  to  rest  content  with 
this  half  triumph  :  they  had  gone  further  on  May  30  than  on  the 
29th;  and  on  June  2  they  went  further  than  on  May  31.  The  in- 
surrection, from  being  moral,  as  they  termed  it,  became  personal ; 
that  is  to  say,  it  was  no  longer  directed  against  a  power,  but 
against  the  deputies;  it  passed  from  Danton  and  the  Mountain  to 
Robespierre,  Marat,  and  the  commune.  On  tlie  evening  of  May 
31  a  Jacobin  deputy  said:  "  We  have  had  but  half  the  game  yet; 
we  must  complete  it,  and  not  allow  the  people  to  cool."  Hcnriot 
offered  to  place  the  armed  force  at  tlie  disposition  of  the  club.  The 
insurrectional  committee  openly  took  up  its  quarters  near  the  con- 
vention. The  whole  of  June  i  was  devoted  to  the  preparation  of 
a  great  movement.  The  commune  wrote  to  the  sections:  "Citi- 
zens, remain  under  arms :  the  danger  of  the  country  renders  this 
a  supreme  law."  In  the  evening  jMarat.  who  was  the  chief  author 
of  June  2,  repaired  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  ascended  the  clock-tower 
himself,  and  rang  the  tocsin;  he  called  upon  the  members  of  the 
council  not  to  separate  till  they  had  obtained  a  decree  of  accusation 
against  the  traitors  and  the  "  statesmen."  A  few  deputies  assem- 
bled at  the  convention,  and  tlic  conspirators  came  to  demand  the 
decree  against  the  proscribed  parties;  but  they  were  not  yet  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  enforce  it  from  the  convention. 

The  whole  night  was  spent  in  making  preparations;  the  tocsin 
rang,  drums  beat  to  arms,  the  people  gathered  together.  On  Sun- 
day morning,  about  eight  o'clock,  Henriot  presented  himself  to 
the  general  council  and  declared  to  his  accomplices,  in  tlie  name  of 
the  insurrectionary  people,  that  they  would  not  lay  down  their 
arms  until  they  had  obtained  the  arrest  of  the  conspirator  deputies. 
lie  then  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  vast  crowd  assembled  in 
the  Place  de  I'Hotel  de  Ville,  harangued  them,  and  gave  the  signal 
for  their  departure.  It  was  nearly  ten  o'clock  when  the  insurgents 
reached  the  Place  du  ('arr(nisel.  Henriot  posted  round  the  chateau 
bands  of  tlie  most  dexotcd  men,  and  the  convention  was  suon  sur- 
rounded by  80,000  men,   tlie  greater  part   ignorant  of  what  was 


262  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1793 


required  of  them,  and  more  disposed  to  defend  than  to  attack  the 
deputation. 

The  majority  of  the  proscribed  members  had  not  proceeded 
to  the  assembly.  A  few,  courageous  to  the  end,  had  come  to  brave 
the  storm  for  the  last  time.  As  soon  as  the  sitting  commenced 
the  intrepid  Lanjuinais  ascended  the  tribune.  "  I  demand,"  said 
he,  "  to  speak  respecting  the  general  call  to  arms  now  beating 
throughout  Paris,"  He  was  immediately  interrupted  by  cries  of 
"  Down!  down!  He  wants  civil  war!  He  wants  a  counter-revolu- 
tion! He  calumniates  Paris!  He  insults  the  people."  Despite  the 
threats,  the  insults,  the  clamors  of  the  Mountain  and  the  galleries, 
Lanjuinais  denounced  the  projects  of  the  commune  and  of  the 
malcontents ;  his  courage  rose  with  the  danger.  "  You  accuse  us," 
he  said,  "  of  calumniating  Paris !  Paris  is  pure ;  Paris  is  good ; 
Paris  is  oppressed  by  tyrants  who  thirst  for  blood  and  dominion." 
These  words  were  the  signal  for  the  most  violent  tumult;  several 
jMountain  deputies  rushed  to  the  tribune  to  tear  Lanjuinais  from 
it;  but  he,  clinging  firmly  to  it,  exclaimed,  in  accents  of  the  most 
lofty  courage:  "I  demand  the  dissolution  of  all  the  revolutionist 
authorities  in  Paris.  I  demand  that  all  they  have  done  during  the 
last  three  days  may  be  declared  null.  I  demand  that  all  who  would 
arrogate  to  themselves  a  new  authority  contrary  to  law,  be  placed 
without  the  law,  and  that  every  citizen  be  at  liberty  to  punish 
them."  He  had  scarcely  concluded,  when  the  insurgent  petitioners 
came  to  demand  his  arrest,  and  that  of  his  colleagues.  "  Citizens," 
said  they,  "  the  people  are  weaiy  of  seeing  their  happiness  still 
postponed ;  they  leave  it  once  more  in  your  hands ;  save  them,  or 
we  declare  that  they  will  save  themselves." 

The  Right  moved  the  order  of  the  day  on  the  petition  of  the 
insurgents,  and  the  convention  accordingly  proceeded  to  the  previ- 
ous question.  The  petitioners  immediatelv  withdrew  in  a  menacing 
attitude ;  tlie  strangers  quitted  the  galleries ;  cries  to  arms  were 
shouted,  and  a  great  tumult  was  heard  without :  "  Save  the 
people !  "  cried  one  of  the  ^Mountain.  "  Save  your  colleagues,  by 
decreeing  thicir  provisional  arrest."  "  No,  no !  "  replied  the  Right, 
and  even  a  portion  of  the  Left.  "We  will  all  share  their  fate!" 
exlaimcd  La  Rcvcillcre-Lepaux.  The  committee  of  public  safety, 
called  upon  to  make  a  repru't,  terrified  at  the  magnitude  of  the 
danger.  pi-i^])i)scd.  as  on  May  31,  a  measure  apparently  concilatory, 
to  satisfy  the  insurgents,  without  entirely  sacrificing  the  proscribed 


FALL     OF     GIRONDISTS  £63 

1793 

members.  "  The  committee,"  said  Barrere,  "  appeal  to  the  gener- 
osity and  patriotism  of  the  accused  members.  It  asks  of  them  the 
suspension  of  their  power,  representing  to  them  that  this  alone  can 
put  an  end  to  the  divisions  which  afflict  the  republic,  which  can 
alone  restore  to  it  peace."  A  few  among  them  adopted  the  proposi- 
tion. Isnard  at  once  gave  in  his  resignation ;  Lanthenas,  Dessaulx, 
and  Fauchet  followed  his  example;  Lanjuinais  would  not.  He 
said:  "  I  have  hitherto,  I  believe,  shown  some  courage;  expect  not 
from  me  either  suspension  or  resignation.  When  the  ancients,"  he 
continued,  amid  violent  interruption,  "  prepared  a  sacrifice,  they 
crowned  the  victim  with  flowers  and  chaplets,  as  they  conducted 
it  to  the  altar;  but  they  did  not  insult  it."  Barbaroux  was  as  firm 
as  Lanjuinais.  "  I  have  sworn,"  he  said,  "  to  die  at  my  post ;  I 
will  keep  my  oath."  The  conspirators  of  the  Mountain  themselves 
protested  against  the  proposition  of  the  committee.  Marat  urged 
that  those  wdio  make  sacrifices  should  be  pure;  and  Billaud- 
Varennes  demanded  the  trial  of  the  Girondists,  not  their  sus- 
pension. 

While  this  was  going  on  Lacroix,  a  deputy  of  the  Mountain, 
rushed  into  the  house  and  to  the  tribune,  and  declared  that  he  had 
been  insulted  at  the  door,  that  he  had  been  refused  egress,  and  that 
the  convention  was  no  longer  free.  i\Iany  of  the  ^Mountain  ex- 
pressed their  indignation  at  Henriot  and  his  troops.  I^anton  said 
it  was  necessary  vigorously  to  avenge  this  insult  to  the  national 
majesty.  Barrere  proposed  to  the  convention  to  present  themselves 
to  the  people.  "  Representatives,"  said  he,  "  vindicate  your  lib- 
erty; suspend  your  sitting;  cause  the  bayonets  that  surround  you 
to  be  lowered."  The  whole  convention  arose  and  set  forth  in  pro- 
cession, preceded  by  its  sergeants  and,  headed  by  the  president, 
who  was  covered,  in  token  of  his  affliction.  On  arriving  at  a  door 
on  the  Place  du  Carrousel  they  found  there  Henriot  on  horseback, 
saber  in  hand.  "  \\'hat  do  tlie  people  recpiire?  "  said  the  president, 
Herault  de  Sechelles :  ''  the  convention  is  wholly  engaged  in  pro- 
moting their  happiness."  "  Herault,"  replied  Henriot,  "the  people 
have  not  risen  to  hear  phrases:  tliey  rc([uirc  twenty-four  traitors 
to  be  given  up  to  them."  "  Give  us  all  up!  "  cried  those  who  sur- 
rounded the  president.  Henriot  then  turned  to  his  people  and 
exclaimed:  "Cannoneers,  to  your  guns."  "l^vo  pieces  were  di- 
rected upon  the  convention,  who.  retiring  to  the  gardens,  sought 
an  outlet  at  various  points,  but  found  all  the  issues  guarded.     The 


264  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

soldiers  were  everywhere  under  arms.  Marat  ran  through  the 
ranks,  encouraging-  and  exciting  them.  "No  weakness,"  said  he; 
"  do  not  quit  your  posts  till  they  have  given  them  up."  The  con- 
vention then  returned  within  the  house,  overwhelmed  with  a  sense 
of  their  powerlessness,  convinced  of  the  inutility  of  their  efforts, 
and  entirely  subdued.  The  arrest  of  the  proscribed  members  was 
no  longer  opposed.  Marat,  the  true  dictator  of  the  assembly,  im- 
periously decided  the  fate  of  its  members.  "  Dessaulx,"  said  he, 
"  is  an  old  twaddler,  incapable  of  leading  a  party;  Lanthenas  is  a 
poor  creature,  unworthy  of  a  thought ;  Ducos  is  merely  chargeable 
with  a  few  absurd  notions,  and  is  not  at  all  a  man  to  become  a 
counter-revolutionary  leader.  I  require  that  these  be  struck  out 
of  the  list,  and  their  names  replaced  by  that  of  Valaze."  These 
names  w^ere  accordingly  struck  out,  and  that  of  Valaze  substituted, 
and  the  list  thus  altered  was  agreed  to,  scarcely  one-half  of  the 
assembly  taking  part  in  the  vote. 

These  are  the  names  of  the  illustrious  men  proscribed :  the 
Girondists,  Gensonne,  Guadet,  Brissot,  Gorsas,  Petion,  Vergniaud, 
Salles,  Barbaroux,  Cambon,  Buzot,  Birotteau,  Lidon,  Rabaud, 
Lasource,  Lanjuinais,  Grangeneuve,  Lehardy,  Lesage,  Louvet, 
Valaze,  Lebrun,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  Clavieres,  minister  of 
taxes,  and  the  members  of  the  council  of  twelve,  Kervelegan, 
Gardien,  Rabaud-Saint-fitienne,  Boileau,  Bertrand,  Vigee,  Molle- 
veau,  Henri  la  Riviere,  Gomaire,  and  Bergoing.  The  convention 
placed  them  under  arrest  at  their  own  houses,  and  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  people.  The  order  for  keeping  the  assembly  itself 
prisoners  was  at  once  withdrawn,  and  the  multitude  dispersed,  but 
from  that  moment  the  convention  ceased  to  be  free. 

The  consequences  of  this  disastrous  event  did  not  answer  the 
expectations  of  anyone.  The  Dantonists  thought  that  the  dis- 
sensions of  parties  were  at  an  end :  civil  war  broke  out.  The  mod- 
erate members  of  tlie  committee  of  public  safety  thought  that  the 
convention  would  resume  all  its  power:  it  was  utterly  subdued. 
The  commune  thought  that  May  31  would  secure  to  it  domination; 
domination  fell  to  Robespierre  and  Danton,  and  to  a  few  men  de- 
voted to  his  fortune,  or  to  the  principle  of  extreme  democracy. 
Lastly,  there  was  another  party  to  be  added  to  the  parties  defeated, 
and  thenceforth  hostile;  and  as  after  August  10  the  republic  had 
been  opposed  to  the  constitutionalists,  after  May  31  the  reign  of 
terror  was  opposed  to  the  moderate  party  of  the  republic. 


PART  IV 

THE  TERROR  AND  THE  REACTION 
JUNE  2,  1793-OCTOBER  28,  1795 


Chapter    X 

BEGINNING    OF    THE    TERROR 
JUNE    2,    1793-APRIL,    1794 

IT  was  to  be  presumed  that  the  Girondists  would  not  bow  to 
their  defeat,  and  that  May  31  would  be  the  signal  for  the  insur- 
rection of  the  departments  against  the  Mountain  and  the  com- 
mune of  Paris.  This  was  the  last  trial  left  them  to  make,  and  they 
attempted  it.  But  in  this  decisive  measure  there  was  seen  the  same 
want  of  union  which  had  caused  their  defeat  in  the  convention.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  the  Girondists  would  have  triumphed  had  they 
been  united,  and  especially  whether  their  triumph  would  have  saved 
the  revolution.  How  could  they  have  done  with  just  laws  what  the 
Mountaineers  effected  by  violent  measures?  How  could  they  have 
conquered  foreign  foes  without  fanaticism,  restrained  parties  with- 
out the  aid  of  terror,  fed  the  multitude  without  a  maximum,  and 
supplied  the  armies  without  requisition?  If  ]\Iay  3  had  had  a  differ- 
ent result,  what  happened  at  a  much  later  period  would  probably 
have  taken  place  immediately,  namely,  a  gradual  abatement  of  the 
revolutionary  movement,  increased  attacks  on  the  part  of  Europe, 
a  general  resumption  of  hostilities  by  all  parties,  the  days  of  Prairial, 
without  power  to  drive  back  the  multitude ;  the  days  of  Vcndemiaire, 
without  power  to  repel  the  royalists;  the  invasion  of  the  coalesced 
powers,  and,  according  to  the  policy  of  the  times,  the  partition  of 
France.  The  republic  was  not  sufficiently  powerful  to  meet  so  many 
attacks  as  it  did  after  the  reaction  of  Thermidor. 

However  this  may  be.  the  Girondists,  who  ought  to  have  re- 
mained quiet  or  fought  all  together,  did  not  do  so,  and  after  June  2 
all  the  moderate  men  of  the  party  remained  under  the  decree  of 
arrest;  the  others  escaped.  Vergniaud,  Gensonnc,  Ducos,  Ton- 
frede,  were  among  the  first:  Pction,  Barbaroux,  Guadet,  Louvct, 
Buzot,  and  Lanjuinais  among  the  latter.  They  returned  to  Evreux. 
in  the  department  of  the  Eurc,  where  P.nzot  had  much  inlhience,  and 
thcticc  to  Caen,  in  CnK'ados.  They  made  tin's  town  the  center  of 
the  insurrection.  Iha'ltany  so(m  joined  thcni.  ddic  insurgents,  under 
the  name  of  the  assembly  of  the  departments  assenil)lcd  at  Caen, 

2(i7 


268  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

formed  an  army,  appointed  General  Wimpfen  commander,  arrested 
the  Mountaineers  Romme  and  Prieur  de  la  Marne,  commissaries  of 
the  convention,  and  prepared  to  march  on  Paris.  From  this  place  a 
young,  beautiful,  and  courageous  woman,  Charlotte  Corday,  went 
to  punish  Marat,  the  principal  author  of  May  31  and  June  2.  She 
hoped  to  save  the  republic  by  sacrificing  herself  to  its  cause.  But 
tyranny  did  not  rest  with  one  man;  it  belonged  to  a  party,  and  to 
tlie  violent  situation  of  the  republic,  Charlotte  Corday,  after  exe- 
cuting her  generous  but  vain  design,  died  with  unchanging  calmness, 
modest  courage,  and  the  satisfaction  of  having  done  well.^  But 
Marat,  after  his  assassination,  July  13,  1793,  became  a  greater 
object  of  enthusiasm  with  the  people  than  he  had  been  while  living. 
He  was  invoked  on  all  the  public  squares ;  his  bust  was  placed  in  all 
the  popular  societies  and  he  was  granted  the  honors  of  the  Pan- 
theon. At  the  same  time  Lyons  arose,  Marseilles  and  Bordeaux  took 
arms,  and  more  than  sixty  departments  joined  the  insurrection. 
This  attack  soon  led  to  a  general  rising  among  all  parties,  and  the 
royalists  for  the  most  part  took  advantage  of  the  movement  which 
the  Girondists  had  commenced.  They  sought  especially  to  direct 
the  insurrection  of  Lyons,  in  order  to  make  it  the  center  of  the  move- 
ment in  the  south.  This  city  was  strongly  attached  to  the  ancient 
order  of  things.  Its  manufactures  of  silver  and  gold  and  silken 
embroidery,  and  its  trade  in  articles  of  luxury,  made  it  dependent 
on  the  upper  classes.  It  therefore  declared  at  an  early  period  against 
a  social  change  which  destroyed  its  former  connections  and  ruined 
its  manufactures  by  destroying  the  nobility  and  clergy.  Lyons  ac- 
cordingly, in  1790,  even  under  the  constituent  assembly,  when  the 
emigrant  princes  were  in  that  neighborhood,  at  the  court  of  Turin, 
had  made  attempts  at  rising.  These  attempts,  directed  by  priests 
and  nobles,  had  been  repressed,  but  the  spirit  remained  the  same. 
There,  as  elsewhere  after  August  10,  men  had  wished  to  bring  about 
the  revolution  of  the  multitude  and  to  establish  its  government. 

1  The  following  are  a  few  of  the  replies  of  this  heroic  girl  before  the  revolu- 
tionary tribunal:  "What  were  your  intentions  in  killing  INIarat?"  "To  put  an 
end  to  the  troubles  of  France."  "Is  it  long  since  you  conceived  this  project?" 
"  Since  the  proscription  of  the  deputies  of  the  people  on  May  31."  "  You  learned 
then  by  the  papers  that  Marat  was  a  friend  of  anarchy?"  "Yes,  I  knew  that 
he  was  perverting  France.  I  have  killed,"  she  added,  raising  her  voice,  "  a  man 
to  save  a  hundred  tlK)U£and ;  a  villain,  to  save  the  innocent;  a  wild  beast,  to 
give  tra!if|nillity  to  my  country.  I  wa^;  a  republican  before  the  revolution,  and  I 
have  never  been  without  energy."  But  compare  Stephens'  account,  "  French 
Revolution,"  vol.    II.   p.   251,  and  especially  his   estimate,  p.   253. 


THETERROR  269 

1793 

Chalier,  the  fanatical  imitator  of  Marat,  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Jacobins,  the  sans-culottes,  and  the  municipahty  of  Lyons.  His 
audacity  increased  after  the  massacres  of  September  and  January 
21.  Yet  nothing  had  as  yet  been  decided  between  the  lower  repub- 
lican class  and  the  middle  royalist  class,  the  one  having  its  seat  of 
power  in  the  municipality  and  the  other  in  the  sections.  But  the 
disputes  became  greater  toward  the  end  of  May;  they  fought  and 
the  sections  carried  the  day.  The  municipality  was  besieged 
and  taken  by  assault.  Chalier,  who  had  fled,  was  apprehended  and 
executed.  The  sectionaries,  not  as  yet  daring  to  throw  off  the  yoke 
of  the  convention,  endeavored  to  excuse  themselves  on  the  score  of 
the  necessity  to  which  the  Jacobins  and  the  members  of  the  corpora- 
tion had  reduced  them  of  taking  arms.  The  convention,  which 
could  only  save  itself  by  means  of  daring,  losing  everything  if  it 
yielded,  would  listen  to  nothing.  ^Meanwhile  the  insurrection  of 
Calvados  became  known,  and  the  people  of  Lyons,  thus  encouraged, 
no  longer  feared  to  raise  the  standard  of  revolt.  They  put  their  own 
town  in  a  state  of  defense ;  they  raised  fortifications,  formed  an  army 
of  20,ooo  men,  received  emigrants  among  them,  intrusted  the  com- 
mand of  their  forces  to  the  royalist  Precy  and  the  ]\Iarquis  de  Vir- 
ieux,  and  concerted  their  operations  with  the  King  of  Sardinia. 

The  revolt  of  Lyons  was  so  much  the  more  to  be  feared  by  the 
convention  that  by  its  central  position  it  was  supported  by  the 
south,  which  took  arms,  while  there  was  also  a  rising  in  the  west. 
At  Marseilles  the  news  of  May  31  had  aroused  the  partisans  of  the 
Girondists:  Rebecqui  repaired  thither  in  haste.  The  sections  were 
assembled;  the  members  of  the  revt)lutionary  tribunal  were  out- 
lawed ;  the  two  representatives,  Baux  and  Antiboul,  were  arrested, 
and  an  army  of  10,000  men  raised  to  advance  on  Paris.  These 
measures  were  the  work  of  the  royalists,  who,  there  as  elsewhere, 
only  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  revive  their  party,  had  at  first 
assumed  a  republican  appearance,  but  now  acted  in  their  own  name. 
They  had  secured  the  sections;  and  the  movement  was  no  longer 
effected  in  favor  of  the  Girondists,  but  for  the  counter-revolutionists. 
Once  in  a  state  of  revolt,  the  [)arty  whose  opinions  are  the  most 
violent  and  whose  aim  is  the  clearest  supplants  its  allies.  Rebecqui 
perceiving  this  new  turn  of  the  insurrection  threw  himself  in  despair 
into  the  port  of  ^Marseilles.  The  insurgents  took  the  road  to  Lyons ; 
their  example  was  rapidly  imitated  at  Toulon,  Ximes,  Montauban, 
and  the  principal  towns  in  the  south.     In  Calvados  the  insurrection 


270  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

had  had  the  same  royalist  character,  since  the  Marquis  de  Puisaye, 
at  the  head  of  some  troops,  had  introduced  himself  into  the  ranks 
of  the  Girondists.  The  towns  of  Bordeaux,  Nantes,  Brest,  and 
L'Orient  were  favorable  to  the  persons  proscribed  on  June  2,  and  a 
few  openly  joined  them ;  but  they  were  of  no  great  service,  because 
they  were  restrained  by  the  Jacobin  party  or  by  the  necessity  of 
fighting-  the  royalists  of  the  west. 

The  latter,  during  this  almost  general  rising  of  the  departments, 
continued  to  extend  their  enterprises.  After  their  first  victories  the 
Vendeans  seized  on  Bressuire,  Argenton,  and  Thouars.  Entirely 
masters  of  their  own  country,  they  proposed  getting  possession  of 
the  frontiers  and  opening  the  way  to  revolutionary  France,  as  well 
as  communications  with  England.  On  June  6  the  Vendean  army, 
composed  of  40,000  men  under  Cathelineau,  Lescure,  Stofflet,  and 
La  Rochejacquelin,  marched  on  Saumur,  which  it  took  by  storm.  It 
then  prepared  to  attack  and  capture  Nantes,  to  secure  the  possession 
of  its  own  country  and  become  master  of  the  course  of  the  Loire. 
Cathelineau,  at  the  head  of  the  Vendean  troops,  left  a  garrison  in 
Saumur,  took  Angers,  crossed  the  Loire,  pretended  to  advance  upon 
Tours  and  Le  Mans,  and  then  rapidly  threw  himself  upon  Nantes, 
which  he  attacked  on  the  right  bank,  while  Charette  was  to  attack 
it  on  the  left. 

Everything  seemed  combined  for  the  overthrow^  of  the  conven- 
tion. Its  armies  were  beaten  on  the  north  and  on  the  Pyrenees, 
v/hile  it  was  threatened  by  the  people  of  Lyons  in  the  center,  those 
of  Marseilles  in  the  south,  the  Girondists  in  one  part  of  the  west,  the 
Vendeans  in  the  other,  and  while  20,000  Piedmontese  were  invading 
France.  The  military  reaction  which,  after  the  brilliant  campaigns 
of  Argonne  and  Belgium,  had  taken  place,  chiefly  owing  to  the  dis- 
agreement between  Dumouriez  and  the  Jacobins,  between  the  army 
and  the  government,  had  manifested  itself  in  a  most  disastrous  man- 
ner since  the  defection  of  the  commander-in-chief.  There  was  no 
longer  unity  of  operation,  enthusiasm  in  the  troops,  or  agreement 
l)ctween  tlic  convention,  occupied  with  its  quarrels,  and  the  discour- 
aged generals.  The  remains  of  Dumouriez's  army  had  assembled 
at  the  camp  at  Famars,  under  command  of  Dampierre;  but  they  had 
been  oljligcfl  to  retire  after  a  defeat  under  the  cannon  of  Bouchain. 
Dampierre  was  killed.  The  frontier  from  Dunkirk  to  Givet  was 
threatened  by  superior  forces.  Custine  was  promptly  called  from 
the  Moselle  to  the  army  of  the  north,  but  his  presence  did  not  restore 


THETERROR  ^71 

1793 

affairs.  Valenciennes,  the  key  to  France,  was  taken  (July  24, 
1793);  Conde  shared  the  same  fate  (July  10,  1793);  the  army, 
driven  from  position  to  position,  retired  beyond  the  Scarpe,  before 
Arras,  the  last  post  between  the  Scarpe  and  Paris.  Mayence,  on  the 
other  side,  sorely  pressed  by  the  enemy  and  by  famine,  gave  up  all 
hope  of  being  assisted  by  the  army  of  the  Moselle,  reduced  to  inac- 
tion; and  despairing  of  being  able  to  hold  out  long,  capitulated 
(July  23,  1793).  Lastly,  the  English  government,  seeing  that 
Paris  and  the  departments  were  distressed  by  famine,  after  May  31 
and  June  2  pronounced  all  the  ports  of  France  in  a  state  of  blockade 
and  that  all  neutral  ships  attempting  to  bring  a  supply  of  provisions 
would  be  confiscated.  This  measure,  new  to  the  annals  of  history 
and  destined  to  starve  an  entire  people,  originated  the  law  of  the 
maximum,  which  was  authorized  September  29,  1793.  It  regu- 
lated the  maximum  price  of  food-stuffs  and  the  wages  of  artisans. 
An  absolute  prohibition  was  put  upon  foreign  imports,  and  the 
penalties  for  infringement  were  very  severe.  The  situation  of  the 
republic  could  not  have  been  worse. 

The  convention  was,  as  it  were,  taken  by  surprise.  It  was  dis- 
organized, because  emerging  from  a  struggle,  and  that  the  conquer- 
ors had  not  had  time  to  establish  themselves.  After  June  2,  before 
the  danger  became  so  pressing  both  on  the  frontiers  and  in  the  de- 
partments, the  Mountain  had  sent  commissioners  in  every  direction 
and  immediately  turned  its  attention  to  the  constitution,  which  had 
so  long  been  expected  and  from  whicli  it  entertained  great  hopes. 
The  Girondists  had  wished  to  decree  it  before  January  21,  in  order 
to  save  Louis  XVI.,  by  substituting  legal  order  for  the  revolutionary 
state  of  things;  they  returned  to  the  subject  previous  to  ]\Iay  31  in 
order  to  prevent  their  own  ruin.  But  the  Mountaineers,  on  two 
occasions,  had  diverted  the  assembly  from  this  discussion  by  two 
coups  d'etat,  the  trial  of  Louis  XVI.,  and  the  elimination  of  the 
Gironde.  Masters  of  the  field,  they  now  endeavored  to  secure  the 
republicans  by  decreeing  the  constitution.  Ilerault  de  Scchelles 
was  the  legislator  of  the  Mountain,  as  Condorcet  had  been  of  tiie 
Gironde.  In  a  few  days  this  new  constitution  was  adopted  in  the 
convention  and  submitted  to  the  approval  of  the  primary  assemblies. 
It  was  approved  by  1,800.000  votes,  out  of  about  4.000,000  electors. 
There  were  very  few  negative  votes,  those  disapproving  of  it  staying 
away  from  the  polls.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  its  nature  with  the  ideas 
that  then  prevailed  respecting  democratic  government.     Tlie  con- 


272  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

stituent  assembly  was  considered  as  aristocratical ;  the  law  it  had  es- 
tablished was  regarded  as  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  people, 
because  it  imposed  conditions  for  the  exercise  of  political  rights ;  be- 
cause it  did  not  recognize  the  most  absolute  equality;  because  it  had 
deputies  and  magistrates  appointed  by  electors,  and  these  electors  by 
the  people ;  because,  in  some  cases,  it  put  limits  to  the  national  sov- 
ereignty, by  excluding  a  portion  of  active  citizens  from  high  public 
functions  and  the  proletariats  from  the  functions  of  acting  citizens ; 
finally,  because,  instead  of  fixing  on  the  population  as  the  only  basis 
of  political  rights,  it  combined  it  in  all  its  operations  with  property. 
The  constitutional  law  of  1793  established  the  pure  regime  of  the 
multitude :  it  not  only  recognized  the  people  as  the  source  of  all 
power,  but  also  delegated  the  exercise  of  it  to  the  people ;  an  unlim- 
ited sovereignty ;  extreme  mobility  in  the  magistracy ;  direct  elec- 
tions, in  which  everyone  could  vote;  primary  assemblies,  that  could 
meet  without  convocation,  at  given  times,  to  elect  representatives 
and  control  their  acts ;  a  national  assembly,  to  be  annually  renewed, 
and  which,  properly  speaking,  was  only  a  committee  of  the  primary 
assemblies ;  such  was  this  constitution.  As  it  made  the  multitude 
govern,  and  as  it  entirely  disorganized  authority,  it  was  impractica- 
ble at  all  times;  but  especially  in  a  moment  of  general  war.  The 
Mountain,  instead  of  extreme  democracy,  needed  a  stern  dictator- 
ship. The  constitution  was  suspended  as  soon  as  made,  and  the 
revolutionary  government  strengthened  and  maintained  till  the 
peace. 

Both  during  the  discussion  of  the  constitution  and  its  presenta- 
tion to  the  primary  assemblies  the  Mountaineers  learned  the  danger 
which  threatened  them.  These  daring  men,  having  three  or  four 
parties  to  put  down  in  the  interior,  several  kinds  of  civil  war  to 
terminate,  the  disasters  of  the  armies  to  repair,  and  all  Europe  to 
repel,  were  not  alarmed  at  their  position.  The  representatives  of 
the  44,000  municipalities  came  to  accept  the  constitution.  Admitted 
to  the  bar  of  the  assembly,  after  making  known  the  assent  of  the 
people,  they  required  the  arrest  of  all  suspected  persons  and  a  levy  en 
masse  of  the  people.  "  Well,"  exclaimed  Danton,  "  let  us  respond 
to  their  wishes.  The  deputies  of  the  primary  assemblies  have  just 
taken  the  initiative  among  us  in  the  way  of  inspiring  terror!  I 
demand  that  the  C(in\cntion,  which  ought  now^  to  be  penetrated  with 
a  sense  of  its  dignity,  for  it  has  just  been  invested  with  the  entire 
national  power,  I  demand  that  it  do  now,  by  decree,  invest  the  pri- 


THETERROR  273 

1793 

mary  assemblies  with  the  right  of  supplying-  the  state  with  arms, 
provisions,  and  ammunition ;  of  making  an  appeal  to  the  people,  of 
exciting  the  energy  of  citizens  and  of  raising  400,000  men.  It  is 
with  cannon-balls  that  we  must  declare  the  constitution  to  our  foes ! 
Now  is  the  time  to  take  the  last  great  oath  that  we  will  destroy 
tyranny  or  perish !  "  This  oath  was  immediately  taken  by  all  the 
deputies  and  citizens  present.  A  few  days  after  Barrere,  in  the 
name  of  the  committee  of  public  safety,  which  was  composed  of 
revolutionary  members  and  which  became  the  center  of  operations 
and  the  government  of  the  assembly,  proposed  measures  still  more 
general:  "Liberty,"  said  he,  "has  become  the  creditor  of  every 
citizen;  some  owe  her  their  industry;  others  their  fortune;  these 
their  counsel ;  those  their  arms ;  all  owe  her  their  blood.  Accord- 
ingly all  the  French,  of  every  age  and  of  either  sex,  are  summoned 
by  their  country  to  defend  liberty;  all  faculties,  physical  or  moral; 
all  means,  political  or  commercial ;  all  metal,  all  the  elements,  are  her 
tributaries.  Let  each  maintain  his  post  in  the  national  and  military 
movement  about  to  take  place.  The  young  men  will  fight ;  the  mar- 
ried men  will  forge  arms,  transport  the  baggage  and  artillery  and 
prepare  provisions ;  the  women  will  make  tents  and  clothes  for  tlie 
soldiers  and  exercise  their  hospitable  care  in  the  asylums  of  the 
wounded;  children  will  make  lint  from  old  linen;  and  the  aged, 
resuming  the  mission  they  discharged  among  the  ancients,  shall 
cause  themselves  to  be  carried  to  the  public  places,  where  they  shall 
excite  the  courage  of  the  young  warriors  and  propagate  the  doctrine 
of  hatred  to  kings  and  the  unity  of  the  republic.  National  buildings 
shall  be  converted  into  barracks,  public  squares  into  workshops; 
the  ground  of  the  cellars  will  serve  for  the  preparation  of  saltpetre; 
all  saddle-horses  shall  be  j)laced  in  requisition  for  tlie  cavalry;  all 
draught-horses  for  the  artillery ;  fowling-pieces,  pistols,  swords,  and 
pikes  belonging  to  individuals  shall  be  employed  in  the  serv'ice  of  the 
interior.  The  republic  being  but  a  large  city  in  a  state  of  necessity 
LTance  must  be  converted  into  a  vast  camp." 

The  measures  proposed  by  Barrere  were  at  once  decreed.  All 
Frenchmen  from  eighteen  to  twenty-live  look  arms,  the  armies  were 
recruited  by  levies  of  men  and  supported  by  levies  of  provisions. 
One  million  two  hundred  thousand  soldiers  were  exi)cctcd  as  the 
result  of  the  Icrcc  cii  masse.  The  united  armies  did  not  exceed 
750,000  men.  iM-ance,  while  it  became  a  camp  and  a  workshop  for 
the  republicans,  became  at  the  same  time  a  pri>on  for  those  who  did 


274.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

not  accept  tlie  republic.  While  marching  against  avowed  enemies  it 
was  thought  necessary  to  make  sure  of  secret  foes,  and  the  famous 
law  of  suspects  was  passed.  All  foreigners  were  arrested  on  the 
ground  of  their  hostile  machinations,  and  the  partisans  of  constitu- 
tional monarchy  and  a  limited  republic  were  imprisoned,  to  be  kept 
close  until  the  peace.  At  the  time  this  was  so  far  only  a  reasonable 
measure  of  precaution.  The  bourgeoisie,  the  mercantile  people  and 
the  middle  classes  furnished  prisoners  after  May  31,  as  the  nobility 
and  clergy  had  done  after  August  10.  A  revolutionary  army  of  6000 
soldiers  and  1000  artillerymen  was  formed  for  the  interior.  Every 
indigent  citizen  was  allowed  forty  sous  a  day  to  enable  him  to  be 
present  at  the  sectionary  meetings.  Certificates  of  citizenship  were 
delivered  in  order  to  make  sure  of  the  opinions  of  all  who  cooper- 
ated in  the  revolutionary  movement.  The  functionaries  were  placed 
under  the  surveillance  of  the  clubs,  a  revolutionary  committee  was 
formed  in  each  section,  and  thus  they  prepared  to  face  the  enemy  on 
all  sides,  both  abroad  and  at  home. 

The  insurgents  in  Calvados  were  easily  suppressed ;  at  the  very 
first  skirmish  at  Vernon  the  insurgent  troops  fled.  Wimpfen  en- 
deavored to  rally  them  in  vain.  The  moderate  class,  those  who  had 
taken  up  the  defense  of  the  Girondists,  displayed  little  ardor  or 
activity.  When  the  constitution  w-as  accepted  by  the  other  depart- 
ments it  saw  the  opportunity  for  admitting  that  it  had  been  in  error 
when  it  thought  it  was  taking  arms  against  a  mere  factious  minority. 
This  retraction  was  made  at  Caen,  which  had  been  the  headquarters 
of  the  revolt.  The  Mountain  commissioners  did  not  sully  this  first 
victory  witli  executions.  General  Carteaux,  on  the  other  hand, 
marched  at  the  head  of  some  troops  against  the  sectionary'  army  of 
the  south;  he  defeated  its  force,  pursued  it  to  Alarseilles,  entered 
the  town  after  it,  and  Provence  would  have  been  brought  into  sub- 
jection like  Calvados  if  the  royalists,  wdio  had  taken  refuge  at  Tou- 
lon after  their  defeat,  had  not  called  in  the  English  to  their  aid  and 
placed  in  their  hands,  August  2t^,  1793^  this  key  to  France.  Ad- 
miral Hood  entered  the  town  in  the  name  of  Louis  XVIL,  whom  he 
proclaimed  king,  disarmed  the  fleet,  sent  for  8000  Spaniards  by  sea, 
occupied  tlie  surrounding  forts  and  forced  Carteaux,  who  was 
advancing  against  Toulon,  to  fall  back  on  Marseilles. 

Notwithstanding  this  check  the  conventionalists  succeeded  in 
isolating  tlie  insurrection,  and  this  was  a  great  point.  The  IMoun- 
tain  commissioners  had  made  tlieir  entry  into  tlie  rebel  capitals: 


T  H  E     T  E  R  R  O  R  275 

1793 

Robert  Lindet  into  Caen ;  Tallien  into  Bordeaux;  Barras  and  Freron 
into  Marseilles.  Only  two  towns  remained  to  be  taken — Toulon 
and  Lyons. 

A  simultaneous  attack  from  the  south,  west,  and  center  was  no 
longer  apprehended,  and  in  the  interior  the  enemy  was  only  on  the 
defensive.  Lyons  was  besieged  by  Kellermann,  general  of  the  army 
of  the  Alps ;  three  corps  pressed  the  town  on  all  sides.  The  veteran 
soldiers  of  the  Alps,  the  revolutionary  battalions,  and  the  newly 
levied  troops  reinforced  the  besiegers  every  day.  The  people  of 
Lyons  defended  themselves  with  all  the  courage  of  despair.  At  first 
they  relied  on  the  assistance  of  the  insurgents  of  the  south  ;  but  these 
having  been  repulsed  by  Carteaux,  the  Lyonnese  placed  their  last 
hope  in  the  army  of  Piedmont,  which  attempted  a  diversion  in  their 
favor,  but  was  beaten  by  Kellermann.  Pressed  still  more  energet- 
ically, they  saw  their  first  positions  carried.  Famine  began  to  be 
felt  and  courage  forsook  them.  The  royalist  leaders,  convinced  of 
the  inutility  of  longer  resistance,  left  the  town,  and  the  republican 
army  entered  the  walls,  where  they  awaited  the  orders  of  the  con- 
vention. A  few  months  after  Toulon  itself,  defended  by  veteran 
troops  and  formidable  fortifications,  fell  into  the  power  of  the  repub- 
licans. The  battalions  of  the  army  of  Italy,  reinforced  by  those 
which  the  taking  of  Lyons  left  disposable,  pressed  the  place  closely. 
After  repeated  attacks  and  prodigies  of  skill  and  valor  they  made 
themselves  masters  of  it,  and  the  capture  of  Toulon,  December  19, 
1793,  finished  what  that  of  Lyons  had  begun. 

Everywhere  the  convention  was  victcjrious.  The  Vendeans  had 
failed  in  their  attempt  upon  Nantes,  after  having  lost  many  men  and 
their  general-in-chief,  Cathelineau.  This  attack  put  an  end  to 
the  aggressive  and  previously  promising  movement  of  the  Vendcan 
insurrection.  The  royalists  repassed  the  Loire,  abandoned  Saumur, 
and  resumed  their  former  cantonments.  They  were,  however,  still 
formidable;  and  the  republicans  who  pursued  tliem  were  again 
beaten  in  La  Vendee.  General  Biron.  who  had  succeeded  General 
Berruyer,  unsuccessfully  continued  the  war  with  small  bodies  of 
troops;  his  moderation  and  defective  system  of  attack  caused  him 
to  be  replaced  by  Canclaux  and  Rossignol,  who  were  not  more  for- 
tunate than  he.  There  were  two  leaders,  two  armies,  and  two  cen- 
ters of  operation — the  one  at  Xanlcs  and  tlie  other  at  Saumur, 
placed  under  contrary  influences.  General  Canclaux  could  not  agree 
with  General  Rossiu-nol,  nor  tlie  moderate  Mountain  commissioner 


276  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

Plillippeaux  with  Ilcjiirbotte,  the  commissioner  of  the  committee  of 
piil)hc  safety;  and  tliis  attempt  at  invasion  failed  like  the  preceding 
attempts,  for  want  of  concert  in  plan  and  action.  The  committee 
of  public  safety  soon  remedied  this  by  appointing  one  sole  general- 
in-chief,  Lechelle,  and  by  introducing  war  on  a  large  scale  into  La 
Vendee.  This  new  method,  aided  by  the  garrison  of  Mayence,  con- 
sisting of  17,000  veterans,  who,  relieved  from  operations  against 
the  coalesced  powers  after  the  capitulation,  were  employed  in  the 
interior,  entirely  changed  the  face  of  the  war.  The  royalists  under- 
went four  consecutive  defeats,  two  at  Chatillon,  two  at  Cholet. 
Lcscure,  Bonchamps,  and  D'Elbee  were  mortally  wounded,  and  the 
insurgents,  completely  beaten  in  Upper  Vendee,  and  fearing  that 
they  should  be  exterminated  if  tliey  took  refuge  in  Low'er  Vendee, 
determined  to  leave  their  country,  to  the  number  of  80,000  persons. 
This  emigration  through  Brittany,  which  they  hoped  to  arouse  to 
insurrection,  became  fatal  to  them.  Repulsed  before  Granville, 
utterly  routed  at  Mons,  they  were  destroyed  at  Savenay,  and  barely 
a  few  thousand  men,  the  wreck  of  this  vast  emigration,  returned  to 
Vendee.  These  disasters,  irreparable  for  the  royalist  cause,  the 
taking  of  their  land  of  Noirmoutiers  from  Charette,  the  dispersion  of 
the  troops  of  that  leader,  the  death  of  La  Rochejacquelin,  rendered 
the  republicans  masters  of  the  countr}\  The  committee  of  public 
safety,  thinking,  not  without  reason,  that  its  enemies  were  beaten 
but  not  subjugated,  adopted  a  terrible  system  of  extermination  to 
prevent  them  from  rising  again.  General  Turreau  surrounded 
Vendee  with  sixteen  intrenched  camps;  twelve  movable  columns, 
called  the  infernal  columns,  overran  the  country  in  every  direction, 
sword  and  fire  in  hand,  scoured  the  woods,  dispersed  the  assemblies 
and  diffused  terror  throughout  the  unhappy  country." 

Tlie  foreign  armies  had  also  been  driven  back  from  the  fron- 
tiers they  had  invaded.  After  having  taken  Valenciennes  and 
Conde.  blockaded  ]Maubeuge  and  Quesnoy,  the  enemy  advanced 
on  Cassel,  ITondtschoote,  and  Funics,  under  the  command  of  the 
Duke  rif  ^^ork.  The  committee  of  public  safety,  dissatisfied  with 
Custine,  whose  measures  they  looked  on  with  suspicion  as  a  Giron- 
dist, superseded  him  by  General  Houchard.  The  enemy,  hitherto 
successful,  was  defeated  at  Hondtschoote,  September  6-8,  1793,  and 

-  On  tlic  Veiulcan  War,  see  Stephens,  "French  Revohition,"  vol.  IT.  p.  259  ff. ; 
Von  Syl)el,  "History  of  the  French  Revohition,"  vol.  III.  pp.  251-257;  Fyffe, 
"  ^lodern  Europe,"  vol.  I.  p.  83  ff. 


THETERROR  277 

1793 

compelled  to  retreat.  The  military  reaction  began  with  the  daring 
measures  of  the  committee  of  public  safety.  Houchard  himself 
was  dismissed.  Jourdan  took  the  command  of  the  army  of  the 
north,  gained  the  important  victory  of  Wattignies,  October  i6,  1793, 
over  the  Prince  of  Coburg,  raised  the  siege  of  Maubeuge,  and  re- 
sumed the  offensive  on  that  frontier.  Similar  successes  took  place 
on  all  the  others.  The  immortal  campaign  of  1 793-1 794  opened. 
What  Jourdan  had  done  with  the  army  of  the  north,  Hoche  and 
Pichegru  did  with  the  army  of  the  ^^loselle,  and  Kellermann  with 
that  of  the  Alps.  The  enemy  was  repulsed  and  kept  in  check  on  all 
sides.  Then  took  place,  after  ]\Iay  31,  that  which  had  followed 
August  10.  The  want  of  union  between  the  generals  and  the  lead- 
ers of  the  assembly  was  removed ;  the  revolutionary  movement, 
which  had  slackened,  increased,  and  victories  recommenced.  Armies 
have  had  their  crises,  as  well  as  parties,  and  these  crises  have 
brought  about  successes  or  defeat,  always  by  the  same  law. 

In  1792,  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  generals  were  consti- 
tutionalists and  the  ministers  Girondists.  Rochambeau,  Lafayette, 
and  Luckner  did  not  at  all  agree  with  Dumouriez,  Servan,  Claviere, 
and  Roland.  There  was,  besides,  little  enthusiasm  in  the  army ;  it 
was  beaten.  After  August  10  the  Girondist  generals,  Dumouriez, 
Custine,  Kellermann,  and  Dillon,  replaced  the  constitutionalist  gen- 
erals. There  was  unity  of  views,  confidence,  and  cooperation  be- 
tween the  army  and  the  government.  The  catastrophe  of  August  10 
augmented  this  energy  by  increasing  the  necessity  for  victory;  and 
the  results  were  the  plan  of  the  campaign  of  Argonne,  the  victories 
of  Valmy  and  Jemappes,  and  the  invasion  of  liclgium.  The  struggle 
between  the  ^Mountain  and  the  Gironde,  between  Dumouriez  and 
the  Jacobins,  again  created  discord  between  the  army  and  govern- 
ment and  destroyed  the  confidence  of  the  troops,  who  experienced 
immediate  and  numerous  reverses.  There  was  defection  on  the 
part  of  Dumouriez,  as  there  had  been  withdrawal  on  the  part  of 
Lafayette.  After  Alav  31,  which  ovcrtlirew  the  Gironde  party, 
after  the  committee  of  public  safety  had  become  established  and 
had  replaced  the  Girondist  generals,  DumDuricz,  Custine,  Houchard, 
and  Dillon,  by  the  Mountain  generals,  Jourdan,  Ploche,  Pichegru, 
and  Moreau ;  after  it  had  restored  the  i-cvohiti(Miary  movement  by 
tlie  daring'  measures  we  ha\'c  described,  tlie  cam])aign  of  Argiuinc 
and  of  j^)elginni  was  renewed  in  tliat  of  1 7g4,  and  the  genius  of 
Carnot  equaled  tliat  of  Dumouriez,  if  it  did  not  surpass  it. 


278  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793-1794 

During  this  war  the  committee  of  public  safety  gave  way  to 
the  most  terrible  executions.  Armies  confine  themselves  to  slaugh- 
ter on  the  field  of  battle ;  it  is  not  so  with  parties,  who,  under  violent 
circumstances,  fearing  to  see  the  combat  renewed  after  the  victory, 
secure  themselves  from  new  attacks  by  inexorable  rigor.  The  usage 
of  all  governments  being  to  make  their  own  preservation  a  matter  of 
right,  they  regard  those  who  attack  them  as  enemies  so  long  as  they 
fight ;  as  conspirators  when  they  are  defeated ;  and  thus  destroy  them 
alike  by  means  of  war  and  of  law. 

All  these  views  at  once  guided  the  policy  of  the  committee  of 
public  safety,  a  policy  of  vengeance,  of  terror,  and  of  self-preserva- 
tion. This  was  the  maxim  upon  which  it  proceeded  in  reference  to 
insurgent  towns :  "  The  name  of  Lyons,"  said  Barrere,  "  must  no 
longer  exist.  You  will  call  it  Ville  Affranchie,  and  upon  the  ruins 
of  that  famous  city  there  shall  be  raised  a  monument  to  attest  the 
crime  and  the  punishment  of  the  enemies  of  liberty.  Its  history 
shall  be  told  in  these  words :  '  Lyons  warred  against  liberty ;  Lyons 
exists  no  more.'  "  To  realize  this  terrible  anathema,  the  committee 
sent  to  this  unfortunate  city  Collot  d'Herbois,  Fouche,  and  Couthon, 
who  slaughtered  the  inhabitants  with  grapeshot  and  demolished  its 
buildings.  Couthon  was  reproved  by  the  convention  for  being 
lenient!  Between  December,  1793,  and  April,  1794,  1682  persons 
were  executed  in  Lyons  alone.  At  Nantes,  Carrier's  noyades 
drowned  58  priests  at  one  time,  90  at  another,  we  know  not  how 
many  at  other  odd  intervals,  but  on  one  occasion  no  less  than  800 
persons;  Legendre  had  suggested  this  means  of  execution  in  a 
speech  at  the  Jacobin  Club  in  May,  1792.  The  insurgents  of  Tou- 
lon underwent  at  the  hands  of  the  representatives,  Barras  and 
Freron,  a  nearly  similar  fate.  At  Caen,  Marseilles,  and  Bordeaux 
the  executions  were  less  general  and  less  violent,  because  they  were 
proportioned  to  the  gravity  of  the  insurrection,  which  had  not  been 
undertaken  in  concert  with  foreign  foes.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered tliat  the  Vendeans  and  Chouans  were  not  one  whit  behind  the 
republicans  in  massacres  when  they  had  the  opportunity. 

There  was  real  system  in  the  conduct  of  the  committee  of  public 
safety.  For  t1ie  second  time  in  history — the  first  being  Sulla's  dic- 
tatorship in  tiic  latter  days  of  the  Roman  republic— the  world  wit- 
nessed tlie  scientific  application  of  terror  as  a  principle  of  rule. 

In  t!ic  interior  tlic  dictatorial  government  struck  at  all  the  par- 
ties with  which  it  was  at  war  in  the  persons  of  their  greatest  mem- 


MA  KIR      \X  TdlNKITK     nX     TIIK     \V.\^■      H 


II  KH     F.XF.rrTIOV 


THETERROR  279 

1793 

bers.  The  condemnation  of  Queen  Marie  Antoinette  was  directed 
against  Europe;  that  of  the  twenty-two  against  the  Girondists;  of 
the  wise  Bailly  against  the  old  constitutionalists ;  lastly,  that  of  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  against  certain  members  of  the  Mountain  who 
were  supposed  to  have  plotted  his  elevation.  The  unfortunate  widow 
of  Louis  XVI.  was  first  sentenced  to  death  by  this  sanguinary  revo- 
lutionary tribunal.  The  proscribed  of  June  2  soon  followed  her. 
She  perished  on  October  16  and  the  Girondist  deputies  on  the  31st. 
Those  who  then  met  death  were:  Brissot,  Vergniaud,  Gensonne, 
Fonfrede,  Ducos,  Valaze,  Lasource,  Sillery,  Gardien,  Carra,  Duprat, 
Beauvais,  Duchatel,  Mainvielle,  Lacaze,  Boileau,  Lehardy,  Anti- 
boul,  and  Vigee.^  Seventy-three  of  their  colleagues,  who  had  pro- 
tested against  their  arrest,  were  also  imprisoned,  but  the  committee 
did  not  venture  to  inflict  death  upon  them.  Custine  and  Beauhar- 
nais,  generals  of  the  French  army,  were  recalled  to  Paris  for  not 
having  attempted  to  deliver  Valenciennes  and  Mainz,  tried  before 
the  revolutionary  tribunal,  and  guillotined. 

During  the  debates  these  illustrious  prisoners  displayed  uniform 
and  serene  courage.  Vergniaud  raised  his  eloquent  voice  for  a 
moment,  but  in  vain,  Valaze  stabbed  himself  with  a  poignard  on 
hearing  the  sentence,  and  Lasource  said  to  the  judges:  "  I  die  at  a 
time  when  the  people  have  lost  their  senses ;  you  will  die  when  they 
recover  them."  They  went  to  execuli(5n  displaying  all  the  stoicism 
of  the  times,  sin^-ing  tlie  "Marseillaise"  and  applying  it  to  their 
own  case: 

"Allans,  cnfants  dc  la  patrie, 
Lc  jour  de  gloirc  est  arrive: 
Contrc  nous  de  la  iyraiuiie 
Lc  coutean  sa;ti^lai!t  est  le-re."  etc. 

Nearly  all  the  other  leaders  of  this  party  had  a  violent  end. 
Salles,  Guadet,  and  Barbaroux    were  discovered  in  the  grottos  of 

3  Upon  the  work  of  tlic  terror  governmctit  in  the  departments  see  Ste- 
phens, "French  Revolution."  vol.  IT.  ch.  ii. ;  Taine,  "  I'rench  Revolution,"  vol. 
IT.  p.  35  ff. ;  Wallon,  "  Tribunal  rcvnlufionaire,"  vol.  V.  p.  326  ff.  A  succinct  ac- 
count of  the  organization  of  the  revolutionary  government,  from  the  pen  of 
Aulard,  is  to  be  found  in  Lavissc  and  Rambaud,  "  Histoirc  p,eneralc,"  vol.  VIII. 
pp.  196-199. 

Historians  are  divided  into  those  who  condemn  and  those  who.  justify  the 
terror,  some  contending,  like  Mignet,  Thiers,  Quinet,  I.ouis  Blanc,  and  Aulard, 
who  is  the  greatest  living  authority  upon  the  period,  that  the  terror  saved  France 
from  being  destroyed  1)y  anarchy  within  rnul  made  the  armies  effective  abroad; 
others,  notably  Sorel  and  Taine,  '^c<A<  to  prove  that  "the  victories  were  in 
spite  of,  not  because  of  tlie  ti-rmr."  C(.  l\vffe.  "Modern  Furope,"  vol.  I.  p.  46; 
Fletcher's  Carlyle,  "  I'rcnch  Revolution,"   \ul.   III.  p.    i  iS,  note— very  valuable. 


280  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1793 


Saint  Emilion,  near  Bordeaux,  and  died  on  the  scaffold.  Petion 
and  Buzot,  after  wandering  about  some  time,  committed  suicide; 
they  were  found  dead  in  a  field,  half  devoured  by  wolves.  Rabaud- 
Saint-Etienne  was  betrayed  by  an  old  friend;  Madame  Roland  was 
also  condemned  to  death,  and  displayed  the  courage  of  a  Roman 
matron.  Her  husband,  on  hearing  of  her  death,  left  his  place  of 
concealment  and  killed  himself  on  the  highroad.  Condorcet,  out- 
lawed soon  after  June  2,  was  taken  while  endeavoring  to  escape, 
and  saved  himself  from  the  executioner's  knife  only  by  poison.  Lou- 
vet,  Kervelegan,  Lanjuinais,  Henri  la  Riviere,  Lesage,  La  Reveil- 
lere-Lepeaux,  were  the  only  leading  Girondists  who,  in  secure 
retreat,  awaited  the  end  of  the  furious  storm. 

The  revolutionary  government  was  formed ;  it  was  proclaimed 
by  the  convention  on  October  10.  Before  May  31  power  had  been 
nowhere,  neither  in  the  ministry,  nor  in  the  commune,  nor  in  the 
convention.  It  was  natural  that  power  should  become  concentrated 
in  this  extreme  situation  of  affairs,  and  at  a  moment  when  the 
necessity  of  unity  and  promptitude  of  action  was  deeply  felt.  The 
assembly  being  the  most  central  and  extensive  power,  the  dictator- 
ship would  as  naturally  become  placed  in  its  bosom,  be  exercised 
there  by  the  dominant  faction  and  in  that  faction  by  a  few  men. 
The  committee  of  public  safety  of  the  convention  created  on  April 
6  in  order,  as  the  name  indicates,  to  provide  for  the  defense  of  the 
revolution  by  extraordinary  measures,  was  in  itself  a  complete  frame- 
work of  government.  Formed  during  the  divisions  of  the  Mountain 
and  the  Gironde,  it  was  composed  of  neutral  members  of  the  con- 
vention till  ALiy  31  ;  and  at  its  first  renewal  of  members  of  the 
extreme  Alountain.  Barrere  remained  in  it;  but  Robespierre  ac- 
ceded and  his  party  dominated  in  it  by  Saint-Just,  Couthon,  Collot 
dHerbois.  and  Billaud-Varennes.  He  set  aside  some  Dantonists 
who  still  remained  in  it,  such  as  Herault  de  Sechelles  and  Robert- 
Lindet,  gained  over  Barrere,  and  usurped  the  lead  by  assuming  the 
direction  of  the  public  mind  and  of  police.  His  associates  divided 
the  various  departments  among  themselves.  Saint-Just  undertook 
the  sur\-eil]ance  and  denouncing  of  parties;  Couthon,  the  violent 
propositions  requiring  to  be  softened  in  form;  Billaud-Varennes 
and  Collot  d'Herbois  directed  the  missions  into  the  departments; 
Carnot  took  the  war  department;  Cambon,  the  exchequer;  Prieur 
de  la  Cote  d'Or,  Prieur  de  la  Marne,  and  several  others,  the  various 
branches  of  internal  administration  ;  and  Barrere  was  the  daily  ora- 


THETERROR  281 

1793 

tor,  the  panegyrist  ever  prepared,  of  the  dictatorial  committee. 
Below  these,  assisting  in  the  detail  of  the  revolutionary  administra- 
tion, and  of  minor  measures,  was  placed  the  committee  of  general 
safety,  composed  in  the  same  spirit  as  the  great  committee,  having, 
like  it,  twelve  members,  who  were  reeligible  every  three  months, 
and  always  renewed  in  their  office. 

The  whole  revolutionary  power  was  lodged  in  the  hands  of 
these  men.  Saint-Just,  in  proposing  the  establishment  of  the  decem- 
viral  power  until  the  restoration  of  peace,  did  not  conceal  the  motives 
nor  the  object  of  this  dictatorship.  "  You  must  no  longer  show  any 
lenity  to  the  enemies  of  the  new  order  of  things,"  said  he.  "  Liberty 
must  triumph  at  any  cost.  In  the  present  circumstances  of  the  repub- 
lic the  constitution  cannot  be  established ;  it  would  guarantee  impu- 
nity to  attacks  on  our  liberty,  because  it  would  be  deficient  in  the 
violence  necessary  to  restrain  them.  The  present  government  is 
not  sufficiently  free  to  act.  You  are  not  near  enough  to  strike  in 
every  direction  at  the  authors  of  these  attacks ;  the  sword  of  the  law 
must  extend  everywhere ;  your  arm  must  be  felt  everywhere."  Thus 
was  created  that  terrible  power  which  first  destroyed  the  enemies 
of  the  Mountain,  then  the  Mountain  and  the  commune,  and,  lastly, 
itself.  The  committee  did  everything  in  the  name  of  the  conven- 
tion, which  it  used  as  an  instrument.  It  nominated  and  dismissed 
generals,  ministers,  representatives,  commissioners,  judges,  and 
juries.  It  assailed  factions;  it  took  tlie  initiative  in  all  measures. 
Through  its  commissioners,  armies  and  generals  were  dependent 
upon  it  and  it  ruled  the  departments  with  sovereign  sway.  By 
means  of  the  law  touching  suspected  persons,  it  disposed  of  men's 
liberties;  by  the  revolutionary  tribunal,  of  men's  lives;  by  levies  and 
the  maximum,  of  property :  by  decrees  of  accusation  in  the  terrified 
convention,  of  its  own  members.  Lastly,  its  dictatorship  was  sup- 
ported by  the  multitude,  who  debated  in  the  clubs,  ruled  in  the  revo- 
lutionary committees ;  whose  services  it  paid  by  a  daily  stipend  and 
whom  it  fed  with  the  maximum.  The  multitude  adhered  to  a  sys- 
tem which  inflamed  its  passions,  exaggerated  its  importance,  as- 
signed it  the  first  place  and  ap])eared  to  do  everything  for  it. 

The  innovators,  separated  i)y  war  and  by  their  laws  from  all 
states  and  from  all  forms  of  government,  determined  to  widen  the 
separation.  Bv  an  unprecedented  revolution  they  established  an 
entirelv  new  era;  they  changed  tlie  dix-isions  of  tlie  year,  the  names 
of  the  months  and  days:  they  substituted  a  republican  fur  the  Chris- 


282  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1792-1793 

tian  calendar,  the  decade  for  tlie  week,  and  fixed  the  day  of  rest,  not 
on  the  Sahbalh,  but  on  tlie  tenth  day.  The  new  era  dated  from  Sep- 
tember 22.  1792,  the  epoch  of  the  foundation  of  the  republic.  There 
were  twelve  equal  months  of  thirty  days,  which  began  on  Septem- 
ber II  in  the  following  order:  Vendemiaire,  Brumaire,  Frimaire, 
for  the  autumn ;  Nivose,  Pluviose,  Ventose,  for  the  winter ;  Germi- 
nal, Floreal,  Prairial,  for  the  spring;  Messidor,  Thermidor,  Fructi- 
dor,  for  the  summer.  Each  month  had  three  decades,  each  decade 
ten  days,  and  each  day  was  named  from  its  order  in  the  decade: 
Primidi,  Duodi,  Tridi,  Quartidi,  Quintidi,  Sextidi,  Septidi,  Octidi, 
Nonidi,  Decadi.  The  surplus  five  days  were  placed  at  the  end  of 
the  year;  they  received  the  name  of  sans-culottides,  and  were  con- 
secrated, the  first,  to  the  festival  of  genius;  the  second,  to  that  of 
labor;  the  third,  to  that  of  actions;  the  fourth,  to  that  of  rewards; 
the  fifth,  to  that  of  opinion.^  The  constitution  of  1793  led  to  the 
establishment  of  the  republican  calendar,  and  the  republican  calendar 
to  the  abolition  of  the  Christian  worship.  We  shall  soon  see  the 
commune  and  the  committee  of  public  safety  each  proposing  a 
religion  of  its  own:  the  commune,  the  worship  of  reason;  the  com- 
mittee of  public  safety,  the  worship  of  the  Supreme  Being.  But 
we  must  first  mention  a  new  struggle  between  the  authors  of  the 
catastrophe  of  May  31  themselves. 

The  commune  and  the  Mountain  had  effected  this  revolution 
against  the  Gironde,  and  the  committee  alone  had  benefited  by  it. 
During  the  five  months  we  have  just  gone  over,  from  June  to  No- 
vember, the  committee,  having  taken  all  the  measures  of  defense, 
had  naturally  become  the  first  power  of  the  rq^ublic.  The  actual 
struggle  being,  as  it  were,  over,  the  commune  sought  to  sway  the 
committee,  and  the  Mountain  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  latter. 
The  municipal  faction  was  the  end  of  the  revolution.  Having  an 
object  opposed  to  that  of  the  committee  of  public  safety,  instead 
of  the  conventional  dictatorship,  it  desired  the  most  extreme  local 
democracy;  and  instead  of  religion,  the  consecration  of  materialism. 
Political  anarchy  and  religious  atheism  were  the  symbols  of  this 
party,  and  the  means  by  which  it  aimed  at  establishing  its  own  rule. 
A  revolution  is  the  effect  of  the  different  systems  which  have  agi- 

4  Napoleon  abolished  this  decimal  calendar  in  1806.  Fletcher  makes  the 
pomt  that  "  tlie  calendar  is  not  at  all  an  nnrcasonable  one,  as  September  22  is 
the  first  day  of  autumn  and  is  the  ancient  Eijyptian  and  Babylonian  New  Year's 
Day."— Fletcher's  edition  Carlylc's  "  French  Revolution,"  vol.  III.  p.  88,  note. 


THETERROR  283 

1793 

tated  the  age  which  has  originated  it.  Thus,  during  the  continuance 
of  the  crisis  in  France,  ukramontane  CathoHcism  was  represented 
by  the  nonjuring  clerg>';  Jansenism  by  the  constitutionist  clergy; 
philosophical  deism  by  the  worship  of  the  Supreme  Being,  instituted 
by  the  committee  of  public  safety;  and  the  materialism  of  Hol- 
bach's  school  by  the  worship  of  Reason  and  of  Nature,  decreed  by 
the  commune.  It  was  the  same  with  political  opinions,  from  the 
royalty  of  the  ancient  regime  to  the  unlimited  democracy  of  the 
municipal  faction.  The  latter  had  lost  in  ]\Iarat  its  principal  sup- 
port, its  true  leader,  w^hile  the  committee  of  public  safety  still  re- 
tained Robespierre.  It  had  at  its  head  men  who  enjoyed  great  popu- 
larity with  the  lower  classes ;  Chaumette  ^  and  his  substitute,  He- 
bert,  were  its  political  leaders ;  Ronsin,  commandant  of  the  revolu- 
tionary army,  its  general ;  the  atheist,  Anacharsis  Clootz,  its  apostle. 
In  the  sections  it  relied  on  the  revolutionary  committees,  in  which 
there  were  many  obscure  foreigners,  supposed,  and  not  without 
probability,  to  be  agents  of  England  sent  to  destroy  the  republic  by 
driving  it  into  anarchy  and  excess.  The  club  of  the  Cordeliers  was 
composed  entirely  of  its  partisans.  The  old  Cordeliers  of  Dan- 
ton,  w^ho  had  contributed  so  powerfully  to  August  lo,  and  who  con- 
stituted the  commune  of  that  period,  had  entered  the  government, 
and  the  convention,  and  had  been  replaced  in  the  club  by  members 
whom  they  contemptuously  designated  the  patriotes  dc  la  troisicinc 
requisition. 

Hebert's  faction,  which,  in  the  sheet  called  Pcrc  Duchesne, 
popularized  obscene  language  and  low  and  cruel  sentiments,  and 
which  added  derision  of  the  victims  to  the  executions  of  party,  in  a 
short  time  made  terrible  progress.  It  compelled  the  Bishop  of  Paris 
and  his  vicars  to  abjure  Christianity  and  decree  that  the  worship  of 
Reason  should  be  suljstituted  for  the  Catholic  religion.  In  this  policy 
we  must  carefully  distinguish  between  the  conduct  of  the  commune 
and  tlie  conduct  of  the  convention.  In  the  beginning  the  conven- 
tion adopted  without  clKinge  the  religious  policy  of  the  national 
and  the  legislative  assembly.  It  scrupulously  respected  the  civil 
constitution    of   the   clergy.      On    Septciuber    30,    1792,   Cambon, 

'"  Chaumettc's  blo'xl-lliirstiiicss  pccni?  to  have  l)ecn  tlic  mo?t  extravagant 
type  of  political  fanaticism.  When  nr)t  politically  intlucnced,  he  seems  to  have 
hccn  a  kinfl-hcarfcd  man.  It  was  due  to  liim  tii;it  a  separate  lied  was  provided 
for  each  patient  in  the  h'lspiials  fif  Paris,  that  whipping  was  aholished  in  the 
schools,  and  that  e(|ual  burial  honors  should  be  given  to  all  citizens,  without 
di.-tinction  of  wealth  or  of  class. 


284.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

in  the  name  of  the  committee  of  finance,  had  demanded  the 
suppression  of  the  salaries  of  the  clergy.  Robespierre  strongly 
opposed  the  proposition,  and  the  convention  declared  that  it  "  never 
had  had  the  intention  to  deprive  the  country  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Catholic  religion."  On  June  27,  1793,  during  the  terror,  it  again 
declared  that  "  the  support  of  the  clergy  was  a  part  of  the  national 
debt."  On  August  i,  1793,  the  convention  authorized  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  tombs  of  the  kings  of  France  at  St.  Denis.  This  act  is 
probably  the  most  outrageous  piece  of  legislation  of  which  the  con- 
vention was  the  author,  for  it  is  not  true  that  the  convention  ever 
proscribed  Christianity.  In  general,  such  legislation  was  due  to 
the  commune  of  Paris,  which  actually  passed  an  ordinance  for  the 
destruction  of  church  spires,  because  they  were  "  symbols  of 
inequality." 

But  the  civil  wars  prevailing  in  the  provinces,  in  which  some 
of  the  priests  of  France  were  active,  had  the  effect  of  producing 
vigorous  measures  against  the  "recalcitrant"  clergy  (decrees  of 
April  and  September,  1793).  On  September  18,  1793,  all  clerical 
salaries  were  reduced,  and  on  the  i6th  Brumaire,  communes  were 
given  the  legal  right  to  suppress  parishes.**  This  policy  seemed  too 
moderate  for  radical  revolutionists  like  Chaumette  and  Anarcharsis 
Clootz,  who  wished  to  dechristianize  France.  Under  their  influ- 
ence the  commune  of  Paris,  not  the  conventiori,  passed  decrees  (No- 
vember 28)  ordaining  the  festival  of  Reason  (November  10)  and 
the  closure  of  the  churches. 

Gobel,  the  "  constitutional  "  Archbishop  of  Paris,  Thomas  Lin- 
det,  Bishop  of  Evreux,  with  a  few  others,  abjured  the  Christian 
religion.  Gregoire  courageously  vindicated  his  conscience,  and  at 
the  very  height  of  the  terror  sat  upon  the  benches  of  the  Mountain, 
clad  in  the  violet  robes  of  a  bishop.  Not  so  Sieyes,  who  issued  a 
"  letter  of  renegation  "  on  November  10,  1793.  The  convention, 
while  not  strong  enough  to  crush  the  madness  of  the  commune, 
nevertheless  frowned  upon  it.  The  churches  were  shut  up  or  con- 
verted into  temples  of  reason,  and  fetes  were  established  in  every 
town,  which  became  scandalous  scenes  of  atheism.  The  committee 
of  public  safety  grew  alarmed  at  the  power  of  this  ultra-revolution- 
ary faction  and  liaslcncd  to  stop  and  to  destrov  it.  Robespierre  soon 
attacked  it  in  tlic  asscml)ly  on  the  I5tli  iM-imaire  (December  5. 
'793)-  "Citizens,  representatixc?  of  the  people,"  said  he,  "  tlie 
*"' C"/.  Aulard,  ''La  separation  dc  VEglisc  ct  dc  I'Etat  sous  la  Convention." 


THETERROR  285 

1793 

kings  coalesced  against  the  republic  are  making  war  against  us  with 
armies  and  intrigues;  we  will  oppose  their  armies  by  braver  ones; 
their  intrigues,  by  vigilance  and  the  terror  of  national  justice.  Ever 
intent  on  renewing  their  secret  plots,  in  proportion  as  they  are 
destroyed  by  the  hand  of  patriotism,  ever  skillful  in  directing  the 
arms  of  liberty  against  liberty  itself,  the  emissaries  of  the  enemies 
of  France  are  now  laboring  to  overthrow  the  republic  by  repub- 
licanism and  to  rekindle  civil  war  by  philosophy."  He  classed  the 
ultra-revolutionists  of  the  commune  with  the  external  enemies  of  the 
republic.  "  It  is  your  part,"  said  he  to  the  convention,  "  to  prevent 
the  follies  and  extravagances  which  coincide  with  the  projects  of 
foreign  conspiracy.  I  require  you  to  prohibit  particular  authorities 
(the  commune)  from  serving  our  enemies  by  rash  measures,  and 
that  no  armed  force  be  allowed  to  interfere  in  questions  of  religious 
opinions."  And  the  convention,  which  had  applauded  the  abjura- 
tions at  the  demand  of  the  commune,  decreed,  on  Rol^espierre's 
motion,  that  all  violence  and  all  measures  opposed  to  the  liberty  of 
religion  are  prohibited. 

The  committee  of  public  safety  was  too  strong  not  to  triumph 
over  the  commune;  but  at  the  same  time  it  had  to  resist  the  moder- 
ate party  of  the  ^Mountain,  which  demanded  the  cessation  of  the 
revolutionary  government  and  the  dictatorship  of  the  committees. 
The  revolutionary  government  had  only  been  created  to  restrain, 
the  dictatorship  to  conquer;  and  as  Danton  and  his  party  no  longer 
considered  restraint  and  victory  essential,  they  sought  to  establish 
legal  order  and  the  independence  of  the  convention;  they  wished  to 
frown  down  the  faction  of  the  commune,  to  stop  tlie  operation  of 
the  revolutionary  tribunal,  to  empty  the  prisons  now  filled  with  sus- 
pected persons,  to  reduce  or  destroy  the  powers  of  the  committees. 
This  project  in  favor  of  clemency,  humanity,  and  legal  government 
was  conceived  by  Danton,  Philippeaux,  Camille  Dcsmoulins,  Fabre 
dEglantine,  Lacroix,  General  W'estcrmann,  and  all  the  friends  of 
Danton.  Before  all  these  tilings  they  wanted  that  the  republic 
should  secure  the  field  of  battle;  but  after  conquest  they  wished 
to  conciliate.  Danton  proved  his  statcsmansliip  in  advocating  this 
policy.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  terror  government  had  done  its 
work,  both  within  and  witliout  iM-ancc.  After  tlie  great  victories  of 
tlie  autumn  of  1793  and  tlie  crusliing  -if  cix'il  war  in  tlie  depart- 
ments, terror  had  no  longer  a  reason  lor  l)C!ng. 

This  party,  become  moderate,   had   renounced  power;   it  had 


286  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793 

withdrawn  from  tlie  government,  or  suffered  itself  to  be  excluded  by 
Ivobespicrre's  party.  ]\roreover,  since  May  31,  zealous  patriots  had 
considered  Dantun's  conduct  equivocal.  He  had  acted  mildly  on 
that  day  and  had  subsequently  disapproved  the  condemnation  of  the 
twenty-two.  They  began  to  reproach  him  with  his  disorderly  life, 
his  venal  passions,  his  change  of  party,  and  untimely  moderation. 
To  avoid  the  storm  he  had  retired  to  his  native  place,  Arcis-sur- 
Aube,  and  there  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten  all  in  retirement. 
During  his  absence  the  Hebert  faction  made  immense  progress;  and 
the  friends  of  Danton  hastily  summoned  him  to  their  aid.  He  re- 
turned at  the  beginning  of  Frimaire  (December).  Philippeaux  im- 
mediately denounced  the  manner  in  which  the  Vendean  war  had  been 
carried  on ;  General  \^'estermann,  who  had  greatly  distinguished 
himself  in  that  war,  and  who  had  just  been  dismissed  by  the  com- 
mittee of  public  safety,  supported  Philippeaux,  and  Camille  Des- 
moulins  published  the  first  numbers  of  his  Viciix  Cordelier.  This 
brilliant  and  fiery  young  man  had  followed  all  the  movements  of  the 
revolution,  from  July  14  to  May  31,  approving  all  its  exaggerations 
and  all  its  measures.  His  heart,  how-ever,  was  gentle  and  tender, 
though  his  opinions  were  violent  and  his  humor  often  bitter.  He 
had  praised  the  revolutionary  regime  because  he  believed  it  indis- 
pensable for  the  establishment  of  the  republic ;  he  had  cooperated  in 
the  ruin  of  the  Gironde,  because  he  feared  the  dissensions  of  the 
republic.  For  the  republic  he  had  sacrificed  even  his  scruples  and 
tlie  desires  of  his  heart,  even  justice  and  humanity;  he  had  given 
all  to  his  party,  thinking  that  he  gave  it  to  the  republic;  but  now 
he  was  able  neither  to  praise  nor  to  keep  silent ;  his  energetic  ac- 
tivity, which  he  had  employed  for  the  republic,  he  now  directed 
against  those  who  were  ruining  it  by  bloodshed.  In  his  Vicux 
Cordelier  he  spoke  of  liberty  with  the  depth  of  Machiavelli,  and  of 
men  with  the  wit  of  Voltaire.  But  he  soon  raised  the  fanatics  and 
dictators  against  him  by  calling  the  government  to  sentiments  of 
moderation,  compassion,  and  justice. 

He  drew  a  striking  picture  of  present  tyranny,  under  the  name 
of  a  past  tyranny.  He  selected  his  examples  from  Tacitus.  "  At 
this  period,"  said  he,  "words  became  state  crimes:  there  wanted 
but  one  step  more  to  render  mere  glances,  sadness,  pitv,  sighs — 
even  silence  itself  criminal.  It  soon  became  high  treason  or  an 
anti-revolutionary  crime,  for  Cremutius  Cordus  to  call  Brutus  and 
Cassius  the  last  of  the  Romans ;    a  counter-revolutionarv  crime  in 


T  H  E     T  E  R  R  O  R  287 

1793-1794 

a  descendant  of  Cassius  to  possess  a  portrait  of  his  ancestor;  a 
counter-revolutionary  crime  in  Mamercus  Scaurus  to  write  a  trag- 
edy in  which  there  were  h'nes  capable  of  a  double  meaning;  a 
counter-revolutionary  crime  in  Torquatus  Silanus  to  be  extrava- 
gant; a  counter-revolutionary  crime  in  Pomponius,  because  a 
friend  of  Sejanus  had  sought  an  asylum  in  one  of  his  country 
houses;  a  counter-revolutionary  crime  to  bewail  the  misfortunes 
of  the  time,  for  this  was  accusing  tlie  government;  a  counter-revo- 
lutionary crime  for  the  consul  Fusius  Geminus  to  bewail  the  sad 
death  of  his  son. 

"  If  a  man  would  escape  death  himself,  it  became  necessary 
to  rejoice  at  the  death  of  his  friend  or  relative.  Under  Nero, 
many  went  to  return  thanks  to  the  gods  for  their  relatives  whom 
he  had  put  to  death.  At  least,  an  assumed  air  of  contentment  was 
necessary;  for  even  fear  was  sufficient  to  render  one  guilty.  Every- 
thing gave  the  tyrant  umbrage.  If  a  citizen  was  popular,  he  was 
considered  a  rival  to  tlie  prince,  and  capable  of  exciting  a  civil  war, 
and  he  was  suspected.  Did  he,  on  th.e  contrary,  shun  popularity, 
and  keep  by  his  fireside,  his  retired  mode  of  life  drew  attention, 
and  he  was  suspected.  Was  a  man  rich,  it  was  feared  the  people 
might  be  corrupted  by  his  bounty,  and  he  was  suspected.  Was  he 
poor,  it  became  necessary  to  watch  him  closely,  as  none  are  so 
enterprising  as  those  who  have  nothing,  and  he  was  suspected.  If 
his  disposition  chanced  to  be  somber  and  melancholy,  and  his  dress 
neglected,  his  distress  was  supposed  to  be  occasioned  by  the  state 
of  public  affairs,  and  he  was  suspected.  If  a  citizen  indulged  in 
good  living  to  the  injury  of  his  digestion,  he  was  said  to  do  so 
because  the  prince  lived  ill,  and  he  was  suspected.  If  virtuous  and 
austere  in  his  manners,  he  was  thought  to  censure  the  court,  and 
he  was  suspected.  Was  he  philoso]-)her,  orator,  or  poet,  it  was  un- 
becoming to  have  more  cele1)rity  than  the  government,  and  he  was 
suspected.  Lastly,  if  anyone  had  oljtained  a  reputation  in  war, 
his  talent  only  served  to  make  him  dangerous;  it  became  necessary 
to  get  rid  of  the  general,  or  to  remove  him  speedily  from  the  army; 
he  was  suspected. 

"  The  natural  death  (if  a  celebrated  man,  or  even  of  one 
rnerelv  in  place,  was  so  rare  tliat  historians  handed  it  down  to 
posteritv  as  an  event  ^\•orthy  to  l)c  rcmcmbei-cd  in  remote  ages.  The 
death  of  so  manv  innocent  and  worthy  citizens  seemed  less  a  ca- 
Irunitv  than  the  insolence  and  disgraceful  opulence  of  their  mur- 


288  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793-1794 

derers  and  denouncers.  Every  day  the  sacred  and  inviolable 
informer  made  his  triumphant  entry  into  the  palace  of  the  dead, 
and  received  some  rich  heritage.  All  these  denouncers  assumed 
illustrious  names,  and  called  themselves  Cotta,  Scipio,  Regulus, 
Sievius,  Severus.  To  distinguish  himself  by  a  brilliant  debut,  the 
Marquis  Serenus  brought  an  accusation  of  anti-revolutionary 
practices  against  his  aged  father,  already  in  exile,  after  which  he 
proudly  called  himself  Brutus.  Such  were  the  accusers,  such  the 
judges;  the  tribunals,  the  protectors  of  life  and  property,  became 
slaughter-houses,  in  which  theft  and  murder  bore  the  names  of 
punishment  and  confiscation." 

Camille  Desmoulins  did  not  confine  himself  to  attacking  the 
revolutionary  and  dictatorial  regime ;  he  required  its  abolition.  He 
demanded  the  establishment  of  a  committee  of  mercy,  as  the 
only  way  of  terminating  the  revolution  and  pacifying  parties.  His 
journal  produced  a  great  effect  upon  public  opinion ;  it  inspired 
some  hope  and  courage.  Have  you  read  the  Vicux  Cordelier? 
was  asked  on  all  sides.  At  the  same  time  Fabre  d' Eglantine. 
Lacroix,  and  Bourdon  de  I'Oise  excited  the  convention  to  throw 
ofif  the  yoke  of  the  committee ;  they  sought  to  unite  the  IN'Iountain 
and  the  Right  in  order  to  restore  the  freedom  and  power  of  the 
assembly.  As  the  committees  were  all  powerful,  they  tried  to  ruin 
them  by  degrees, — the  best  course  to  follow.  It  was  important  to 
change  the  public  opinion,  and  to  encourage  the  assembly,  in  order 
to  support  themselves  by  a  moral  force  against  the  revolutionary 
force,  by  the  power  of  the  convention  against  the  power  of  the 
committees.  The  Dantonist  jMountaineers  endeavored  to  detach 
Robespierre  from  the  other  Decemvirs ;  Billaud-Varennes,  Collot 
d'Herbois  and  Saint-Just  alone  appeared  to  them  invincibly  at- 
tached to  the  reign  of  terror.  Barrere  adhered  to  it  through 
weakness — Couthon  from  his  devotion  to  Robespierre.  They 
hoped  to  gain  over  the  latter  to  the  cause  of  moderation,  through 
his  friendship  for  Danton,  his  ideas  of  order,  his  austere  habits, 
his  profession  of  public  virtue,  and  his  pride.  He  had  defended 
seventy-three  imprisoned  Girondist  deputies  against  the  commit- 
tees and  the  Jacobins ;  he  had  dared  to  attack  Clootz  and  Hebert  as 
ultra-revolutionists;  and  he  had  induced  the  convention  to  decree 
the  existence  of  the  Supreme  Being.  Robespierre  was  the  most 
popularly  renowned  man  of  that  time;  he  was,  in  a  measure,  the 
moderator  of  the  republic  and  the  dictator  of  opinion;  by  gaining 


THETERROR  289 

1793-1794 

him,  they  hoped  to  overcome  both  the  committees  and  the  com- 
mune, without  compromising  the  cause  of  the  revolution. 

Danton  saw  him  on  his  return  from  Arcis-sur-Aube,  and  they 
seemed  to  understand  one  another;  attacked  at  the  Jacobins,  he 
was  defended  by  him.  Robespierre  himself  read  and  corrected  the 
Vicux  Cordelier,  and  approved  of  it.  At  the  same  time  he  pro- 
fessed some  principles  of  moderation;  but  then  all  those  who  ex- 
ercised the  revolutionary  government,  or  who  thought  it  indis- 
pensable, became  aroused.  Billaud-Varenncs  and  Saint-Just  openly 
maintained  the  policy  of  the  committees.  Desmoulins  had  said  of 
the  latter:  "  He  so  esteems  himself,  that  he  carries  his  head  on 
his  shoulders  with  as  much  respect  as  if  it  were  the  holy  sacra- 
ment." "  And  I,"  replied  Saint-Just,  "  will  make  him  carry  his 
like  another  Saint  Denis.''  Collot  d'Hcrbois,  who  was  on  a  mis- 
sion, arrived  while  matters  were  in  this  state.  He  protected  the 
faction  of  the  anarchists,  who  had  been  intimidated  for  a  moment, 
and  who  derived  fresh  audacity  from  his  presence.  The  Jacobins 
expelled  Camille  Desmoulins  from  their  society,  and  Barrere  at- 
tacked him  at  the  convention  in  the  name  of  the  government. 
Robespierre  himself  was  not  spared;  he  was  accused  of  moderat- 
ism,  and  murmurs  began  to  circulate  against  him. 

However,  his  credit  being  immense,  as  they  could  not  attack 
or  conquer  without  him,  he  was  sought  on  both  sides.  Taking 
advantage  of  this  superior  position,  he  adopted  neither  party,  and 
sought  to  put  down  the  leaders  of  each,  one  after  the  other. 

Under  these  circumstances  he  wislicd  to  sacrifice  the  com- 
mune and  the  anarchists;  the  committees  wished  to  sacrifice  the 
Alountain  and  the  moderates.  They  came  to  an  understanding : 
Robespierre  gave  up  Danton,  Desmoulins,  and  their  friends  to  the 
members  of  the  committee;  and  the  members  of  the  committee 
gave  up  Hebert,  Clootz,  Chaumette,  Ronsin,  and  their  accom- 
plices. By  favoring  the  nKnlcratcs  at  first,  he  prepared  the  ruin 
of  the  anarchists,  and  he  attained  two  objects  favorable  to  his 
domination  or  to  his  pride — he  overturned  a  formidable  faction 
and  he  got  rid  of  a  revolutionary  rc])ulaii(in.  the  rival  of  his  own. 

jMotives  of  public  safety,  it  nnist  l)e  adnn'tted,  mingled  with 
these  combinations  of  party.  At  this  ])cri(ul  of  general  fury  against 
the  repul)lic,  and  of  victories  not  yet  definitive  on  its  i^art,  the  com- 
mittees (lid  not  think  the  moment  for  ])eace  witli  Rnroj^e  and  the 
internal  dissentients  liad  arrived ;  and  they  considered  it  impossible 


290  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793-1794 

to  carry  on  the  war  without  a  dictatorship.  They,  moreover,  re- 
garded the  Hebertists  as  an  obscene  faction,  which  corrupted  the 
people,  and  served  the  foreign  foe  by  anarchy ;  and  the  Dantonists 
as  a  party  whose  poHtical  moderation  and  private  immorahty  com- 
promised and  dishonored  the  repubHc.  The  government  accord- 
ingly proposed  to  the  assembly,  through  the  medium  of  Barrere, 
the  continuation  of  the  war,  with  additional  activity  in  its  pursuit; 
while  Robespierre,  a  few  days  afterward,  demanded  the  continu- 
ance of  the  revolutionary  government.  In  the  Jacobins  he  had 
already  expressed  himself  opposed  to  the  Vieiix  Cordelier,  which 
he  had  hitherto  supported.  He  rejected  legal  government  in  the 
following  terms : 

"Without,"  said  he,  "all  the  tyrants  surround  us;  within,  all 
the  friends  of  tyranny  conspire  against  us;  they  will  continue  to 
conspire  till  crime  is  left  without  hope.  We  must  destroy  the 
internal  and  external  enemies  of  the  republic  or  perish  with  it. 
Now,  in  such  a  situation,  the  first  maxim  of  your  policy  should  be, 
to  lead  the  people  by  reason,  and  the  enemies  of  the  people  by 
terror.  If,  during  peace,  virtue  be  the  mainspring  of  a  popular 
government,  its  mainspring  in  the  times  of  revolution  is  both 
virtue  and  terror;  virtue,  without  which  terror  becomes  fatal, 
terror,  without  which  virtue  is  powerless.  Subdue,  then,  the  ene- 
mies of  liberty  by  terror;  and,  as  the  founders  of  the  republic,  you 
will  act  rightly.  The  government  of  the  revolution  is  the  despotism 
of  liberty  against  tyranny." 

In  this  speech  he  denounced  the  moderates  and  the  ultra-revo- 
lutionists, as  both  of  them  desiring  tlie  downfall  of  the  republic. 
"  They  advance,"  said  he,  "  under  different  banners  and  by  differ- 
ent r(3ads,  but  they  advance  toward  the  same  goal ;  that  goal  is  the 
disorganization  of  the  popular  government,  the  ruin  of  the  con- 
vention, and  the  triumph  of  tyranny.  One  of  these  two  factions 
reduces  us  to  weakness,  the  other  drives  us  to  excesses."  He  pre- 
pared the  public  mind  for  their  proscription ;  and  his  speech, 
adopted  witliout  discussion,  was  sent  to  all  the  popular  societies,  to 
all  the  authorities,  and  to  all  the  armies. 

After  this  beginning  of  hostilities,  Danton,  who  had  not  given 
up  his  connection  with  Robespierre,  asked  for  an  interview  with 
him.  It  took  ]")lacc  at  the  residence  of  Robespierre  Iiimself.  They 
were  cold  and  bitter;  Danton  complained  violently  and  Robes- 
pierre was  reserved.     "  I  know,"  said  Danton,  "  all  the  liatred  the 


THETERROR  291 

1793-1794 

committee  bear  me ;  JDut  I  do  not  fear  it."  "  You  are  wrong,"  re- 
plied Robespierre;  "it  entertains  no  ill  designs  against  you;  but 
you  would  do  well  to  bave  an  explanation."  "An  explanation?" 
rejoined  Danton,  "an  explanation?  That  requires  good  faith!" 
Seeing  that  Robespierre  looked  grave  at  these  words,  he  added: 
"  No  doubt  it  is  necessary  to  put  down  the  royalists,  but  we  ought 
only  to  strike  blows  which  will  benefit  the  republic;  we  must  not 
confound  the  innocent  with  the  guilty."  "  And  who  says,"  ex- 
claimed Robespierre  sharply,  "  that  an  innocent  person  has  been 
put  to  death?"  Danton  turned  to  one  of  his  friends  who  had  ac- 
companied him,  and  said,  with  a  bitter  smile :  "  What  do  you  say 
to  this?  Not  one  innocent  person  has  perished!"  They  then 
separated  and  all  friendship  ceased  between  them. 

A  few  days  afterward  Saint-Just  ascended  the  tribune  and 
threatened  more  openly  than  had  yet  been  done  all  dissentients, 
moderates,  or  anarchists.  "  Citizens,"  said  he,  "  you  wished  for  a 
republic ;  if  you  do  not  at  the  same  time  desire  all  that  constitutes 
it,  you  will  overwhelm  the  people  in  its  ruins.  What  constitutes  a 
republic  is  the  destruction  of  all  that  is  opposed  to  it.  We  are 
guilty  toward  the  republic  because  we  pity  the  prisoners;  we  are 
guilty  toward  the  republic  because  we  do  not  desire  virtue;  we 
are  guilty  to  the  republic  because  we  do  not  desire  terror.  What  is 
it  you  want,  those  of  3'(m  who  do  not  wish  for  virtue,  tliat  you  may 
be  happy?  [Tlie  anarchists.]  What  is  it  you  want,  those  of  you 
who  do  not  wisli  to  employ  terror  against  the  wicked?  [The 
moderates.]  What  is  it  you  want,  those  of  you  who  haunt  public 
places  to  be  seen,  and  to  have  it  said  of  ynu  :  'Do  you  see  such  a 
one  pass?'  [Danton.]  You  will  perish,  those  of  you  who  seek 
fortune,  who  assume  haggard  looks,  and  affect  the  patriot  that  the 
foreigner  may  buy  you  up,  or  the  government  give  you  a  place; 
you  of  the  indulgent  faction,  wlio  seek  to  save  the  guilty ;  you  of 
the  foreign  faction,  who  direct  severity  against  the  defenders  of  the 
people.  Measures  are  already  taken  to  secure  the  guilty;  they  are 
hemmed  in  on  all  sides.  Let  us  return  thanks  to  the  genius  of 
the  French  people  that  liberty  has  triumphed  over  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  attacks  ever  meditated  against  it.  The  development  of 
this  vast  plot,  the  panic  it  will  create,  and  the  measures  about  to 
be  proposed  to  you,  will  free  the  republic  and  the  world  of  all  the 
conspirators." 

Saint-just  caused  tlic  go\erninent  to  be  invested  with  the  most 


292  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793-1794 

extensive  powers  against  the  conspirators  of  the  commune.  He 
had  it  decreed  that  justice  and  probity  were  the  order  of  the  day. 
The  anarchists  were  unable  to  adopt  any  measure  of  defense ;  they 
\eiled  for  a  moment  the  Rights  of  Man  at  the  club  of  the  Cor- 
deliers, and  they  made  an  attempt  at  insurrection,  but  without 
vigor  or  union.  The  people  did  not  stir,  and  the  committee  caused 
its  commandant,  Henriot,  to  seize  the  substitute  Hebert,  Ronsin, 
the  revolutionary  general,  Anarcharsis  Clootz,  Monmoro,  the  orator 
of  the  human  race,  Vincent  and  others.  They  were  brought  before 
the  revolutionary  tribunal  as  the  agents  of  foreign  powers,  and  as 
having  conspired  to  place  a  tyrant  over  the  state.  That  tyrant  was 
to  have  been  Pache,  under  the  title  of  Grand  Juge.  The  anarchist 
leaders  lost  their  audacity  as  soon  as  they  were  arrested;  they  de- 
fended themselves,  were  guillotined  March  24,  1794,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  died  without  any  display  of  courage.  The  committee 
of  public  safety  disbanded  the  revolutionary  army,  diminished  the 
power  of  the  sectionary  committees,  and  obliged  the  commune  to 
appear  at  the  bar  of  the  convention  and  give  thanks  for  the  arrest 
and  punishment  of  the  conspirators,  its  accomplices. 

It  was  now  time  for  Danton  to  defend  himself;  the  proscrip- 
tion after  striking  the  commune  threatened  him.  He  was  advised 
to  be  on  his  guard  and  to  take  immediate  steps;  but  not  having 
been  able  to  overturn  the  dictatorial  power,  by  arousing  public 
opinion  and  the  assembly  by  the  means  of  the  public  journals,  and 
his  friends  the  jMountaineers,  on  what  could  be  depend  for  sup- 
port? The  convention,  indeed,  was  inclined  to  favor  him  and  his 
cause;  but  it  was  wholly  subject  to  the  revolutionary  power  of  the 
committee.  Danton  having  to  support  him  neither  the  govern- 
ment, nor  the  assembly,  nor  the  commune,  nor  the  clubs,  awaited 
proscription,  without  making  any  effort  to  avoid  it. 

His  friends  implored  him  to  defend  himself.  "  I  would 
rather,"  said  he,  "be  guillotined  than  be  a  guillotiner;  besides,  my 
life  is  not  worth  the  trouble;  and  I  am  sick  of  the  world."  *'  The 
members  of  tlie  cbmmittee  seek  thy  death."  "  Well,"  he  exclaimed 
impatiently,  "  should  Billaud,  should  Robespierre  kill  me,  they  will 
be  execrated  as  tyrants ;  Robespierre's  house  will  be  razed  to  the 
ground;  salt  will  be  strewn  upon  it;  a  gallows  will  be  erected  on  it, 
devoted  in  the  vengeance  of  crime!  But  my  friends  will  say  of 
me,  that  T  was  a  good  father,  a  good  friend,  a  good  citizen ;  they 
will  nut  furget  me."      "  Thuu  mavst  avert "  "  I  would  rather 


THETERROR  293 

1793-1794 

be  guillotined  than  be  a  guillotiner."  "  Well,  then,  thou  shouldst 
depart."  "  Depart!  "  he  repeated,  curling  his  lip  disdainfully,  "  de- 
part!   Can  we  carry  our  country  away  on  the  sole  of  our  shoe?  " 

Danton's  only  resource  .now  was  to  make  trial  of  his  so  well 
known  and  potent  eloquence  to  denounce  Robespierre  and  the  com- 
mittee, and  to  arouse  the  convention  against  their  tyranny.  He 
was  earnestly  entreated  to  do  this ;  but  he  knew  too  well  how  diffi- 
cult a  thing  it  is  to  overthrow  an  established  domination ;  he  knew 
too  well  the  complete  subjection  and  terror  of  the  assembly,  to  rely 
on  the  efficacy  of  such  means.  He  accordingly  waited,  thinking, 
he  who  had  dared  so  much,  that  his  enemies  would  shrink  from 
proscribing  him. 

On  the  loth  of  Germinal  he  was  informed  that  his  arrest  was 
being  discussed  in  the  committee  of  public  safetv,  and  he  was  again 
entreated  to  save  himself  by  flight.  After  a  moment's  reflection 
he  exclaimed :  "  They  dare  not !  "  During  the  night  his  house  was 
surrounded,  and  he  was  taken  to  the  Luxembourg  with  Camillc 
Desmoulins,  Philippeaux,  Lacroix,  and  W^stermann.  On  his  ar- 
rival he  accosted  with  cordiality  the  prisoners  who  crowded  round 
him.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  I  had  hoped  in  a  short  time  to  lib- 
erate you,  but  here  I  am  come  to  join  you,  and  I  know  not  how  tlie 
matter  may  end."  In  about  an  hour  he  was  placed  in  solitary  con- 
finement in  the  cell  in  which  Hebert  had  been  imprisoned,  and 
which  Robespierre  was  so  soon  to  occupy.  There,  giving  way  to 
reflection  and  regret,  he  exclaimed:  "  It  was  at  this  time  I  insti- 
tuted the  revolutionary  tribunal.  I  implore  forgiveness  from  God 
and  man  for  having  done  so ;  but  I  designed  it  not  for  the  scourge 
of  humanity." 

His  arrest  gave  rise  to  general  excitement,  to  a  somber 
anxiety.  The  following  day,  at  the  opening  of  the  sittings  in  the 
assembly,  men  spoke  in  whispers;  they  inquired  with  alarm  what 
was  the  pretext  for  this  new  proceeding  against  the  representatives 
of  the  people.  "Citizens,"  at  length  exclaimed  Legcndre.  "four 
members  of  tliis  assenil)ly  liave  been  arrested  during  the  night. 
Danton  is  one;  I  know  not  tlie  others.  Citizens,  I  declare  that  I 
believe  Danton  to  be  as  \mve  as  ni}-sclf,  }ct  he  is  in  a  dungeon. 
Thcv  feared,  no  (ImuI)!,  that  his  replies  woiiUl  overtin-n  the  accusa- 
tions brought  again-t  liini:  I  nit>\e,  therefore,  that  before  y.  lU 
listen  to  anv  report  von  send  I'^r  tlic  prisfjners  and  liear  them." 
This   motion   was    favoraI)]v   receixed.   and   ins[)ired   the   assembly 


294.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1793-1794 

with  momentary  courage :  a  few  members  desired  it  might  be  put 
to  the  vote,  but  this  state  of  things  did  not  last  long.  Robespierre 
ascended  the  tribune.  "  By  the  long  since  unusual  agitation  that 
pervades  the  assembly,"  said  he,  "by  the  sensation  the  words  of 
the  speaker  you  have  just  heard  have  produced,  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  a  question  of  great  interest  is  before  us:  a  question  whether 
two  or  three  individuals  shall  be  preferred  to  the  country.  We 
shall  see  to-day  whether  the  convention  can  crush  to  atoms  a  mock 
idol,  long  since  decayed,  or  whether  its  fall  shall  overwhelm  both 
the  convention  and  the  French  people."  And  a  few  words  from 
him  sufficed  to  restore  silence  and  subordination  to  the  assembly,  to 
restrain  the  friends  of  Danton,  and  to  make  Legendre  himself  re- 
tract. Soon  after  Saint-Just  entered  the  house,  followed  by  other 
members  of  the  committees.  He  read  a  long  report  against  the 
members  under  arrest,  in  which  he  impugned  their  opinions,  their 
political  conduct,  their  private  life,  their  projects;  making  them 
appear,  by  improbable  and  subtle  combinations,  accomplices  in 
every  conspiracy  and  the  servants  of  every  party.  The  assembly, 
after  listening  without  a  murmur,  with  a  bewildered  sanction 
unanimously  decreed,  and  with  applause  even,  the  impeachment  of 
Danton  and  his  friends.  Everyone  sought  to  gain  time  with 
tyranny,  and  gave  up  others'  heads  to  save  his  own. 

The  accused  were  brought  before  the  revolutionary  tribunal ; 
their  attitude  was  haughty  and  full  of  courage.  They  displayed 
an  audacity  of  speech  and  a  contempt  of  their  judges  wholly  un- 
usual. Danton  replied  to  the  president,  Dumas,  who  asked  him  the 
customary  questions  as  to  his  name,  his  age,  his  residence:  "  I  am 
Danton,  tolerably  well  known  in  the  revolution;  I  am  thirty-five 
years  old.  My  residence  will  soon  be  nothing.  My  name  will 
live  in  the  Pantheon  of  history."  His  disdainful  or  indignant  re- 
plies, the  cold  and  measured  answers  of  Lacroix,  the  austere  dignity 
of  Philippeaux,  the  vigor  of  Desmoulins,  were  beginning  to  move 
the  people.  But  the  accused  were  silenced,  under  the  pretext  that 
they  were  wanting  in  respect  to  justice,  and  were  immediately  con- 
demned without  a  hearing,  "  We  are  immolated,"  cried  Danton, 
"  to  the  ambition  of  a  few  miserable  brigands,  but  they  will  not 
long  enjoy  the  fruit  of  their  criminal  victory.  I  draw  Robespierre 
after  mc — Robes'pierre  will  follow  me."  They  were  taken  to  the 
Conciergcrie   and  thence  to  the  scaffold. 

They  went  to  death  with  the  intrepidity  usual  at  that  epoch. 


THETERROR  295 

1793-1794 

There  were  many  troops  under  arms,  and  their  escort  was  nu- 
merous. The  crowd,  generally  loud  in  its  applause,  was  silent. 
Camille  Desmoulins,  when  in  the  fatal  cart,  was  still  full  of  aston- 
ishment at  his  condemnation,  which  he  could  not  comprehend. 
"  This,  then,"  said  he,  "is  the  reward  reserv^ed  for  the  first  apostle 
of  liberty."  Danton  stood  erect,  and  looked  proudly  and  calmly 
around.  At  the  foot  of  the  scaffold  he  betrayed  a  momentary 
emotion.  "Oh,  my  best  beloved — my  wife!"  he  cried,  "I  shall 
not  see  thee  again."  Then  suddenly  interrupting  himself :  "  No 
weakness,  Danton!"  Thus,  on  April  6,  1794,  perished  the  last 
defenders  of  humanity  and  moderation ;  the  last  who  sought  to  pro- 
mote peace  among  the  conquerors  of  the  revolution  and  pity  for  the 
conquered.  For  a  long  time  after  them  no  voice  was  raised  against 
the  dictatorship  of  terror ;  and  from  one  end  of  France  to  the  other 
it  struck  silent  and  redoubled  blows.  The  Girondists  had  sought  to 
prevent  this  violent  reign — the  Dantonists  to  stop  it ;  all  perished, 
and  the  conquerors  had  the  more  victims  to  strike  the  more  foes 
arose  around  them.  In  so  sanguinary  a  career  there  is  no  stopping 
until  the  tyrant  is  himself  slain.  The  Decemvirs,  after  the  definitive 
fall  of  the  Girondists,  had  made  terror  the  order  of  the  day;  after 
the  fall  of  the  Hebertists,  justice  and  probity,  because  these  were 
impure  men  of  faction ;  after  the  fall  of  the  Dantonists,  terror  and 
all  virtues,  because  these  Dantonists  were,  according  to  their 
phraseology,  indulgents  and  immorals. 


Chapter    XI 

FALL   OF   ROBESPIERRE.     APRIL   6-JULY    28,    1794 

DURING  the  four  months  following  the  fall  of  the  Danton 
party  the  committees  exercised  their  authority  without 
opposition  or  restraint.  Death  became  the  only  means  of 
governing,  and  the  republic  was  given  up  to  daily  and  systematic 
executions.  It  was  then  were  invented  the  alleged  conspiracies  of 
tlie  inmates  of  the  prisons,  crowded  under  the  law  of  suspects,  or 
emptied  by  that  of  the  22d  Prairial,  which  might  be  called  the  law 
of  the  condemned ;  then  the  emissaries  of  the  committee  of  public 
safety  entirely  replaced  in  the  departments  those  of  the  Mountain ; 
and  Carrier,  the  protege  of  Billaud,  was  seen  in  the  west ;  Maigret, 
the  protege  of  Couthon,  in  the  south ;  and  Joseph  Lebon,  the 
protege  of  Robespierre,  in  the  north.  The  extermination  en  masse 
of  the  enemies  of  the  democratic  dictatorship,  which  had  already 
been  effected  at  Lyons  and  Toulon  by  grapeshot,  became  still  more 
horrible,  by  the  noyades  of  Nantes,  and  the  scaffolds  of  Arras, 
Paris,  and  Orange. 

]\'Iay  this  example  teach  men  a  truth,  which  for  their  good 
ought  to  be  generally  known,  that  in  a  revolution  all  depends  on  a 
first  refusal  and  a  first  struggle.  To  effect  a  pacific  innovation,  it 
must  not  be  contested ;  otherwise  war  is  declared  and  the  revolu- 
tion spreads,  because  the  whole  nation  is  aroused  to  its  defense. 
When  society  is  thus  shaken  to  its  foundations,  it  is  the  most  daring 
who  triumph,  and  instead  of  wise  and  temperate  reformers,  we 
find  only  extreme  and  inflexible  innovators.  Engendered  by  con- 
test, they  maintain  themselves  by  it ;  with  one  hand  they  fight  to 
maintain  their  sway,  with  the  other  they  establish  their  system  with 
a  view  to  its  consolidation;  they  massacre  in  the  name  of  their 
doctrines:  the  name  of  virtue,  of  humanity,  of  the  welfare  of  the 
people,  of  all  that  is  holiest  on  earth,  they  use  to  warrant  their 
executions,  and  to  protect  their  dictatorship.  Until  they  become 
exhausted  and  fall,  all  perish  indiscriminately,  both  the  enemies  antl 
the   partisans   of   reform.       The   tempest   dashes   a   whole   nation 

296 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  297 

1794 

against  the  rock  of  revolution.  Inquire  what  became  of  the  men 
of  1789  in  1794,  and  it  will  be  found  that  they  were  all  alike  swept 
away  in  this  vast  shipwreck.  As  soon  as  one  party  appeared  on 
the  field  of  battle,  it  summoned  all  the  others  thither,  and  all  like 
it  were  in  turn  conquered  and  exterminated:  constitutionalists, 
Girondists,  the  Mountain,  and  the  Decemvirs  themselves.  At  each 
defeat  the  effusion  of  blood  became  greater,  and  the  system  of 
tyranny  more  violent.  The  Decemvirs  were  the  most  cruel,  be- 
cause they  were  the  last. 

The  committee  of  public  safety,  being  at  once  the  object  of  the 
attacks  of  Europe,  and  of  the  hatred  of  so  many  conquered  parties, 
thought  that  any  abatement  of  violence  would  occasion  its  destruc- 
tion ;  it  wished  at  the  same  time  to  subdue  its  foes  and  to  get  rid  of 
them.  "  The  dead  alone  do  not  return,"  said  Barrere.  "  The  more 
freely  the  social  body  perspires  the  more  healthy  it  becomes," 
added  Collot  d'Herbois.  But  the  Decemvirs,  not  suspecting  their 
power  to  be  ephemeral,  aimed  at  founding  a  democracy,  and  sought 
in  institutions  a  security  for  its  permanence  in  the  time  when  they 
should  cease  to  employ  executions.  They  possessed  in  the  highest 
degree  the  fanaticism  of  certain  social  theories,  as  the  millenarians 
of  the  English  Revolution,  with  whom  they  may  be  compared,  had 
the  fanaticism  of  certain  religious  ideas.  The  one  originated  with 
the  people,  as  the  other  looked  to  God ;  these  desired  the  most  abso- 
lute political  equality,  as  those  sought  evangelical  equality;  these 
aspired  to  the  reign  of  virtue,  as  those  to  the  reign  of  the  saints. 
Human  nature  flies  to  extremes  in  all  things,  and  produces,  in  a 
religious  epoch,  democratic  Christians — in  a  philosophical  epoch, 
political  democrats. 

Robespierre  and  Saint-Just  had  given  it  the  plan  of  that 
democracy,  whose  principles  they  professed  in  all  their  speeches; 
they  wished  to  change  the  manners,  mind,  and  customs  of  France, 
and  to  make  it  a  republic  after  the  manner  of  the  ancients;  they 
sought  to  establish  the  doniiniim  of  the  people;  to  have  magistrates 
free  from  pride;  citizens  free  from  vice;  fraternity  of  intercourse, 
simplicity  of  manners,  austerity  of  character,  and  the  worship  of 
virtue.  The  symbolical  words  of  the  sect  may  be  found  in  the 
speeches  of  all  the  reporters  of  the  committee,  and  especially  in 
those  of  Robespierre  and  Saint-Just.  Liberty  and  equality  for  the 
government  of  the  republic:  indivisibility  for  its  form:  ]niblic  safety 
for  its  defense  and  prcserv:ition ;  virtue  for  its  principle;  the  Su- 


298  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

prcnie  Being'  for  its  religion;  as  for  the  citizens,  fraternity  for  their 
daily  intercourse;  probity  for  their  conduct;  good  sense  for  their 
mental  qualities;  modesty  for  their  public  actions,  which  were  to 
have  for  object  the  welfare  of  the  state,  and  not  their  own :  such 
was  the  symbol  of  this  democracy.  Fanaticism  could  not  go 
further.  The  authors  of  this  system  did  not  inquire  into  its  prac- 
ticability ;  they  thought  it  just  and  natural ;  and  having  power,  they 
tried  to  establish  it  by  violence.  Not  one  of  these  words  but  served 
to  condemn  a  party  or  individuals.  The  royalists  and  aris- 
tocrats were  hunted  down  in  the  name  of  liberty  and  equality ;  the 
Girondists  in  the  name  of  mdivisibility ;  Philippeaux,  Camille  Des- 
moulins,  and  the  moderate  party,  in  the  name  of  public  safety; 
Chaumette,  Anacharsis  Clootz,  Gobet,  Hebert,  all  the  anarchical 
and  atheistical  party,  in  the  name  of  virtue  and  the  Supreme 
Being;  Chabot,  Bazire,  Fabre  d'Eglantine,  in  the  name  of  probity; 
Danton  in  the  name  of  virtue  and  modesty.  In  the  eyes  of  fanatics 
these  moral  crimes  necessitated  their  destruction,  as  much  as  the 
conspiracies  which  they  were  accused  of. 

Robespierre  was  the  patron  of  this  sect,  which  had  in  the  com- 
mittee a  more  zealous,  disinterested,  and  fanatic  partisan  than  him- 
self in  the  person  of  Saint-Just,  who  was  called  the  Apocalyptic. 
His  features  were  bold  but  regular,  and  marked  by  an  expression 
determined  but  melancholy.  His  eye  was  steady  and  piercing; 
his  hair  black,  straight,  and  long.  His  manners  cold,  though  his 
character  was  ardent ;  simple  in  his  habits,  austere  and  sententious, 
he  advanced  without  hesitation  toward  the  completion  of  his  sys- 
tem. Though  scarcely  twenty-five  years  old,  he  was  the  boldest  of 
the  Decemvirs,  because  his  convictions  were  the  deepest.  Passion- 
ately devoted  to  the  republic,  he  was  indefatigable  in  the  committees, 
intrepid  on  his  missions  to  the  armies,  where  he  set  an  example 
of  courage,  sharing  the  marches  and  dangers  of  the  soldiers.  His 
predilection  for  the  multitude  did  not  make  him  pay  court  to 
their  propensities ;  and  far  from  adopting  their  dress  and  language 
with  Hebert,  he  wished  to  confer  on  them  ease,  gravity,  and  dignity. 
But  his  policy  made  him  more  terrible  than  his  popular  sentiments. 
He  had  much  daring,  coolness,  readiness,  and  decision.  Little 
susceptible  of  pity,  he  reduced  to  form  his  measures  for  the  public 
safety,  and  put  them  into  execution  immediately.  If  he  considered 
victory,  proscription,  the  dictatorship  necessary,  he  at  once  de- 
manded  them.      Unlike   Robespierre,   he   was   completely   a   man 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  299 

1794 

of  action.  The  latter,  comprehending  all  the  use  he  might 
make  of  him,  early  gained  him  over  in  the  convention.  Saint-Just, 
on  his  part,  was  drawn  toward  Robespierre  by  his  reputation  for 
incorruptibility,^  his  austere  life,  and  the  conformity  of  their  ideas. 

The  terrible  effects  of  their  association  may  be  conceived 
when  we  consider  their  popularity,  the  envious  and  tyrannical  pas- 
sions of  the  one,  and  the  inflexible  character  and  systematic  views 
of  the  other.  Couthon  had  joined  them;  he  was  personally  de- 
voted to  Robespierre.  Although  he  had  a  mild  look  and  a  par- 
tially paralyzed  frame,  he  was  a  man  of  merciless  fanaticism. 
They  formed,  in  the  committee,  a  triumvirate  which  soon  sought 
to  engross  all  power.  This  ambition  alienated  the  other  members 
of  the  committee  and  caused  their  own  destruction.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  triumvirate  imperiously  governed  the  convention  and  the 
committee  itself.  When  it  was  necessary  to  intimidate  the  assem- 
bly, Saint-Just  was  intrusted  with  the  task ;  when  they  wished  to 
take  it  by  surprise,  Couthon  was  employed.  If  the  assembly  mur- 
mured or  hesitated,  Robespierre  rose,  and  restored  silence  and 
terror  by  a  single  word. 

During  the  first  two  months  after  the  fall  of  the  commune 
and  the  Danton  party  the  Decemvirs,  who  were  not  yet  divided, 
labored  to  secure  their  domination :  their  commissioners  kept  the 
departments  in  restraint,  and  the  armies  of  the  republic  were  vic- 
torious on  all  the  frontiers.  The  committee  took  advantage  of  this 
moment  of  security  and  union  to  lay  the  foundation  of  new  man- 
ners and  new  institutions.  It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  in  a 
revolution  men  are  moved  by  two  tendencies,  attachment  to  their 
ideas  and  a  thirst  for  command.  The  mem1)crs  of  tlie  committee, 
at  the  beginning,  agreed  in  their  democratic  sentiments ;  at  the  end, 
they  contended  for  power. 

Billaud-Varennes  presented  the  theory  of  popular  govern- 
ment, and  the  means  of  rendering  the  army  always  subordinate 
to  the  nation.  Robespierre  delivered  a  discourse  on  the  moral 
sentiments  and  solemnities  suited  to  a  repu])lic:  he  dedicated  festi- 
vals to  the  Supreme  Ik-ing.  to  Truth.  Justice,  Modesty.  iM-iendship. 
Frugality,   Fidelity,   Immortality,   ^lisfortune. — in   a  word,   io   all 

1  An  opposite  vif'W  may  well  be  taken.  Some  years  before  the  revolution 
began  Saint-Just  bad  stnlm  bis  nioiluT's  plate  and  sriiiand-Ted  tlie  money  be 
received  for  it.  He  was  inipri  ;"ned  in  consequence,  and  imbibed  a  fierce 
batred  of  Ictlrcs  dc  cachcl  and  all  the  pulice  puwijr  uf  Uic  ancient  regime. 


300  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

the  moral  and  republican  virtues.  In  this  way  he  prepared  the 
establishment  of  the  new  worship  of  the  Supreme  Being.  Barrere 
made  a  report  on  the  extirpation  of  mendicity,  and  the  assistance 
the  republic  owed  to  indigent  citizens.  All  these  reports  passed 
into  decrees,  agreeably  to  the  wishes  of  the  democrats.  Barrere, 
whose  habitual  speeches  in  the  convention  were  calculated  to  dis- 
guise his  servitude  from  himself,  was  one  of  the  most  supple 
instruments  of  the  committee ;  he  belonged  to  the  regime  of  terror, 
neither  from  cruelty  nor  from  fanaticism.  His  manners  were 
gentle,  his  private  life  blameless,  and  he  possessed  great  modera- 
tion of  mind.  But  he  was  timid ;  and  after  having  been  a  consti- 
tutional royalist  before  August  lo,  a  moderate  republican  prior  to 
]\Iay  31,  he  became  the  panegyrist  and  the  cooperator  of  the 
decemviral  tyranny.  This  shows  that,  in  a  revolution,  no  one 
should  become  an  actor  without  decision  of  character.  Intellect 
never  knows  when  to  stop,  at  a  time  when  one  ought  always  to  be 
prepared  to  die,  and  to  end  one's  part  or  end  one's  opinions. 

Robespierre,  who  was  considered  the  founder  of  this  moral 
democracy,  now  attained  the  highest  degree  of  elevation  and  of 
power.  He  became  the  object  of  the  general  flattery  of  his  party; 
he  was  the  great  man  of  the  republic.  ]\Ien  spoke  of  nothing  but 
of  his  virtue,  of  his  genius,  and  of  his  eloquence.  Two  circum- 
stances contributed  to  augment  his  importance  still  further.  On 
the  3d  Prairial  an  obscure  but  intrepid  man,  named  L'Admiral, 
was  determined  to  deliver  France  from  Robespierre  and  Collot 
d'Herbois.  He  waited  in  vain  for  Robespierre  all  day.  and  at 
night  he  resolved  to  kill  Collot.  He  fired  twice  at  him  with  pistols, 
but  missed  him.  The  following  day  a  young  girl,  named  Cecile 
Renaud,  called  at  Robespierre's  and  earnestly  begged  to  speak 
with  him.  As  he  was  out,  and  as  she  still  insisted  upon  being  ad- 
mitted, she  was  detained.  She  carried  a  small  parcel,  and  two 
knives  were  ffrand  on  her  person.  "  What  motive  brought  you  to 
Robespierre's?"  inquired  her  examiners.  "I  wanted  to  speak  to 
him."  "On  what  business?"  "That  depended  on  liow  I  might 
find  him."  "  Do  you  know  Citizen  Robespierre?  "  "  Xo,  I  sought 
to  know  hiiii;  I  went  to  liis  house  to  see  what  a  tyrant  was  like." 
"What  did  you  propose  doing  with  your  two  knives?"  "Noth- 
ing, having  no  intention  to  injure  anyone."  "And  your  parcel?" 
"  Contains  a  change  of  linen  for  my  use  in  the  place  I  shall  be  sent 
to."     "  Where  is  that?  "     "  To  prison :  and  from  there  to  the  guil- 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  301 

1794 

lotine."  The  unfortunate  girl  was  ultimately  taken  there,  and 
her  family  shared  her  fate. 

Robespierre  received  marks  of  the  most  intoxicating-  adula- 
tion. At  the  Jacobins  and  in  the  convention  his  preservation  was 
attributed  to  the  good  genius  of  the  republic,  and  to  the  Supreme 
Being,  whose  existence  he  had  decreed  on  the  i8th  Floreal.  The 
celebration  of  the  new  religion  had  been  fixed  for  the  20th  Prairial 
throughout  France.  On  the  i6th  Robespierre  was  unanimously 
appointed  president  of  the  convention,  in  order  that  he  might 
officiate  as  the  pontiff  at  the  festival.  At  that  ceremony  he  ap- 
peared at  the  head  of  the  assembly,  his  face  beaming  with  joy  and 
confidence,  an  unusual  expression  with  him.  He  approached  alone, 
fifteen  feet  in  advance  of  his  colleagues,  attired  in  a  magnificent 
dress,  holding  flowers  and  ears  of  corn  in  his  hand,  the  object  of 
general  attention.  Expectation  was  universally  raised  on  this 
occasion :  the  enemies  of  Robespierre  foreboded  attempts  at  usur- 
pation, the  persecuted  looked  forward  to  a  milder  regime.  He 
disappointed  everyone.  PTe  harangued  the  people  in  his  capacity 
of  high  priest,  and  concluded  his  speech,  in  which  all  expected 
to  find  a  hope  of  happier  prospects,  with  these  discouraging  words : 
"  People,  let  us  to-day  give  ourselves  up  to  the  transports  of  pure 
delight !  To-morrow  we  will  renew  our  struggle  against  vices  and 
against  tyrants." 

Two  days  after,  on  the  22d  Prairial,  Couthon  presented  a  new 
law  to  the  convention.  The  revolutionary  tribunal  had  dutifully 
struck  all  those  who  had  been  pointed  out  to  it:  royalists,  consti- 
tutionalists, Girondists,  anarchists,  and  Mountaineers,  had  been  all 
alike  dispatched  to  execution.  But  it  did  not  proceed  expeditiously 
enough  to  satisfy  the  systematic  exterminators,  who  wished 
promptly,  and  at  any  cost,  to  get  rid  of  all  their  prisoners.  It 
still  observed  some  forms;  tlicse  were  su])presse(l.  "All  tardi- 
ness," said  Coutlion,  "  is  a  crime,  all  indulgent  formality  a  public 
danger;  there  should  be  no  longer  delay  in  punishing  the  enemies 
of  the  state  than  suffices  to  recognize  them."  Hitherto  the  pris- 
oners had  counsel ;  they  had  them  no  longer.  The  law  furnishes 
patriot  jurvnicn  for  the  (Icfciisc  of  calumniated  patriots;  it  grants 
none  to  conspirators.  They  tried  them,  at  first,  individually;  now 
they  tried  them  c}i  iiiassc.  Tlicre  had  l)C'en  some  precision  in  the 
crimes  even  when  revolutionar}- ;  now  all  the  enemies  of  the  pi'i.-.ile 
were  declaretl  guilty,  and  all  were  pronounced  enemies  of  the  peo[)le 


302  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

who  sought  to  destroy  Hberty  by  force  or  stratagem.  The  jury  be- 
fore had  the  law  to  guide  their  determination;  they  now  only  had 
their  conscience.  A  single  tribunal,  Fouquier-Tinville,  and  a  few 
jurymen  were  not  sufficient  for  the  increase  of  victims  the  new  law 
threatened  to  bring  before  it :  the  tribunal  was  divided  into  four  sec- 
tions, the  number  of  judges  and  juries  was  increased,  and  the  public 
accuser  had  four  substitutes  appointed  to  assist  him.  Lastly,  the 
deputies  of  the  people  could  not  before  be  brought  to  trial  without 
a  decree  of  the  convention;  but  the  law  was  now  so  drawn  up  that 
they  could  be  tried  on  an  order  from  the  committees.  The  law 
respecting  suspected  persons  gave  rise  to  that  of  Prairial. 

As  soon  as  Couthon  had  made  his  report  a  murmur  of  aston- 
ishment and  alarm  pervaded  the  assembly.  "  If  this  law  passes," 
cried  Ruamps,  "  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  blow  our  brains  out.  I 
demand  an  adjournment."  This  motion  was  supported ;  but 
Robespierre  ascended  the  tribunal.  "  For  a  long  time,"  said  he, 
"  the  national  assembly  has  been  accustomed  to  discuss  and  decree 
at  the  same  time,  because  it  has  long  been  delivered  from  the 
thraldom  of  faction.  I  move  that  without  considering  the  question 
of  adjournment,  the  convention  debate,  till  eight  in  the  evening, 
if  necessary,  on  the  proposed  law."  The  discussion  was  im- 
mediately begun,  and  in  thirty  minutes  after  the  second  reading, 
the  decree  was  carried.  But  the  following  day  a  few  members, 
more  afraid  of  the  law  than  of  the  committee,  returned  to  the  de- 
bate of  the  day  before.  The  Mountaineers,  the  friends  of  Danton, 
fearing,  for  their  own  sakes,  the  new  provisions,  which  left  the 
representatives  at  the  mercy  of  the  Decemvirs,  proposed  to  the  con- 
vention to  provide  for  the  safety  of  its  members.  Bourdon  de 
rOise  was  the  first  to  speak  on  this  subject;  he  was  supported. 
Merlin,  by  a  skillful  amendment,  restored  the  old  safeguard  of 
the  conventionalists,  and  the  assembly  adopted  Merlin's  measure. 
Gradually  objections  were  made  to  the  decree;  the  courage  of  the 
Mountaineers  increased  and  the  discussion  became  very  animated. 
Couthon  attacked  the  Mountaineers.  "  Let  them  know,"  replied 
Bourdon  de  I'Oise — "  let  the  members  of  the  committee  know  that 
if  they  are  patriots,  we  are  patriots  too.  Let  them  know  that 
I  shall  not  reply  with  bitterness  to  their  reproaches.  I  esteem 
Couthon,  I  esteem  the  committee;  but  I  also  esteem  the  unshaken 
Mountain  which  has  saved  our  Hberty."  Robespierre,  surprised  at 
this  unexpected  resistance,  hurried  to  the  tribune.     "  The  conven- 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  303 

1794 

tion,"  said  he,  "  the  Mountain,  and  the  committee  are  the  same 
thing!  Every  representative  of  the  people  who  sincerely  loves 
liberty,  every  representative  of  the  people  who  is  ready  to  die  for 
his  country,  belongs  to  the  Mountain!  We  should  insult  our 
country,  assassinate  the  people,  did  we  allow  a  few  intriguing  per- 
sons, more  contemptible  than  others,  because  they  are  more  hypo- 
critical, to  draw  off  a  portion  of  the  ?^Iountain  and  make  themselves 
the  leaders  of  a  party."  "  It  never  was  my  intention,"  said  Bour- 
don, ''  to  make  myself  leader  of  a  party."  "  It  would  be  the 
height  of  opprobrium,"  continued  Robespierre,  "if  a  few  of  our 
colleagues,  led  away  by  calumny  rcs])ecting  our  intentions  and  the 
object  of  our  labors.  .  .  .  "  "  I  insist  on  your  proving  what 
you  assert,"  rejoined  Bourdon.  "  I  have  been  very  plainly  called 
a  scoundrel."  "  I  did  not  name  Bourdon.  AVoe  to  the  man  who 
names  himself!  Yes,  the  jMountain  is  pure,  it  is  sublime;  in- 
triguers do  not  belong  to  the  JMountain  !  "  "  Name  them  !  "  "I 
will  name  them  w^hen  it  is  necessary."  The  threats  and  the  im- 
perious tone  of  Rol^espierre,  the  support  of  the  other  Decemvirs, 
and  the  feeling  of  fear  which  went  round  caused  profound  silence. 
The  amendment  of  Merlin  was  revoked  as  insulting  to  the  com- 
mittee of  public  safety,  and  the  whole  law  was  adopted. 

From  the  day  of  the  22d  Prairial  until  the  9th  Thermidor — 
June  ii-July  27 — there  were  1366  executions,  or  31  per  dicui. 
This  was  much  the  highest  average.  From  13  per  month  before 
November,  1793,  it  rose  to  65  from  tlience  till  I'>bruary,  1794; 
during  March  and  April  the  average  was  135;  between  April  20 
and  June  10  there  were  636  executions. 

During  the  course  of  the  revolution  the  number  of  small  pro- 
prietors, already  more  considerable  in  iM-ance  under  the  ancient 
regime  than  elsewhere  in  Euro])e,  was  much  increased.  Among  the 
causes  which  favored  this  movement  may  be  enumerated  the  abo- 
lition of  feudal  rights,  tlic  abolition  of  tlie  tithes,  the  suppression  of 
the  taille  and  other  reforms  in  taxation,  the  sale  of  the  property 
confiscated  from  the  emigrants,  and  al)<)\c  all  the  sale  of  the  land  of 
the  clergy.  It  was  this  class  which  suffered  most  in  the  last  days 
of  the  terror. 

But  the  end  of  this  system  drew  near.  The  sittings  of 
Prairial  were  the  end  of  union  for  the  members  of  the  committees. 
From  that  time  silent  dissensions  existed  among  them.  Thev  had 
advanced  together,  so  long  as  they  had  to  contend  together;  but 


304  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

this  ceased  to  be  the  case  when  they  found  themselves  alone  in  the 
arena,  with  habits  of  contest  and  the  desire  for  dominion.  Moreover, 
their  opinions  were  no  longer  entirely  the  same :  the  democratic 
party  were  divided  by  the  fall  of  the  old  commune;  Billaud-Var- 
ennes,  Collot  d'Herbois,  and  the  principal  members  of  the  com- 
mittee of  general  safety,  Vadier,  Amar,  Vouland,  clung  to  this 
overthrown  faction,  and  preferred  the  worship  of  Reason  to  that 
of  the  Supreme  Being.  They  were  also  jealous  of  the  fame  and 
anxious  at  the  power  of  Robespierre,  who,  in  his  turn,  was  ir- 
ritated at  their  secret  disapprobation  and  the  obstacles  they  opposed 
to  his  will.  At  this  period  the  latter  conceived  the  design  of 
putting  down  the  most  enterprising  members  of  the  Mountain, 
Tallien,  Bourdon  Legendre,  Freron,  Rovere,  and  his  rivals  of  the 
committee. 

Robespierre  had  a  prodigious  force  at  his  disposal ;  the  com- 
mon people,  who  considered  the  revolution  as  depending  on  him, 
supported  him  as  the  representative  of  its  doctrines  and  interests ; 
the  armed  force  of  Paris,  commanded  by  Henriot,  was  at  his  com- 
mand. He  had  entire  sway  over  the  Jacobins,  whom  he  admitted 
and  ejected  at  pleasure ;  all  important  posts  were  occupied  by  his 
creatures ;  he  had  formed  the  revolutionary  tribunal  and  the  new 
committee  himself,  substituting  Payan,  the  national  agent,  for 
Chaumette,  the  attorney-general,  and  Henriot  for  Pache,  in  the 
office  of  mayor.  But  what  was  his  design  in  granting  the  most 
influential  places  to  new  men,  and  in  separating  himself  from  the 
committees?  Did  he  aspire  to  the  dictatorship?  did  he  only  seek  to 
estabhsh  his  democracy  of  virtue  by  the  ruin  of  the  remaining 
immoral  Mountaineers,  and  the  factious  of  the  committee?  Each 
party  had  lost  its  leaders ;  the  Gironde  had  lost  the  twenty-two ; 
the  commune,  Hebert,  Chaumette,  and  Ronsin;  the  Mountain, 
Danton,  Chabot,  Lacroix,  and  Camille  Desmoulins.  But  while 
thus  proscribing  the  leaders,  Robespierre  had  carefully  protected 
the  sects.  Pie  had  defended  the  seventy-three  prisoners  against 
the  denunciations  of  the  Jacobins  and  the  hatred  of  the  commit- 
tees ;  he  had  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  new  commune ;  lie 
had  no  longer  reason  to  fear  opposition  to  his  projects,  whatever 
they  might  be,  except  from  a  few  IMountaineers  and  the  members 
of  the  cfjnventional  government.  It  was  against  this  double  ob- 
stacle that  he  directed  his  efforts  during  the  last  moments  of  his 
career.      It  is  probable  that  he  did  not  separate  the  republic  from 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  305 

1794 

his  protectorate,  and  that  he  thought  to  estabhsh  both  on  the  over- 
throw of  the  other  parties. 

The  committees  opposed  Robespierre  in  their  own  way.  They 
secretly  strove  to  bring-  about  his  faU  by  accusing  him  of  tyranny ; 
they  caused  the  estabhshment  of  his  rehgion  to  be  considered  as 
the  presage  of  his  usurpation;  they  recalled  the  hauglity  attitude 
he  assumed  on  the  20th  Prairial,  and  the  distance  at  which  he  kept 
even  the  national  convention.  Among  themselves  they  called  him 
Pisistratus,  and  this  name  already  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth. 
A  circumstance,  insignificant  enough  at  any  other  time,  gave  them 
an  opportunity  of  attacking  him  indirectly.  An  old  woman,  called 
Catherine  Theot,  played  the  prophetess  in  an  obscure  habitation, 
surrounded  by  a  few  mystic  sectaries;  they  styled  her  the  Mother 
of  God,  and  she  announced  the  immediate  coming  of  a  Messiah. 
Among  her  followers  there  was  an  old  associate  of  Robespierre 
in  the  constituent  assembly,  the  Chartreux  dom  Gerle,  who  had 
a  civic  certificate  from  Robespierre  himself.  When  the  commit- 
tees discovered  the  mysteries  of  the  Alother  of  God,  and  her  pre- 
dictions, they  believed  or  pretended  to  believe  that  Robespierre 
made  use  of  her  instrumentality  to  gain  over  the  fanatics,  or  to 
announce  his  elevation.  They  altered  her  name  of  Theot  into 
that  of  Theos,  signifying  God;  and  they  craftily  insinuated  that 
Robespierre  was  the  Messiah  she  announced.  The  aged  X'adier, 
in  the  name  of  the  committee  uf  general  safety,  was  deputed  to 
bring  forward  a  motion  against  this  new  sect.  lie  was  vain  and 
sul)tle;  he  denounced  those  who  were  initiated  into  these  mysteries, 
turned  the  worship  into  derision,  implicated  Rubesi)icrre  in  it 
without  naming  him,  and  had  the  fanatics  sent  to  prison.  Robes- 
pierre wished  to  save  them.  I'lie  CDiiduct  of  the  committee  of 
general  safety  greatly  irritated  him,  and  in  the  Jacobin  Club  he 
spoke  of  the  speech  of  Vadier  with  contempt  and  anger.  lie  ex- 
perienced fresh  opposition  from  the  comniiltce  of  public  safety, 
which  refused  U)  [)roceed  against  the  persons  he  ])ointe(l  (jut  to 
them.  From  that  time  he  ceased  to  j.>in  his  colleagues  in  the 
government,  and  was  rarely  present  at  the  sittings  of  the  conven- 
tion. But  he  attended  tiic  Jaci)I)ins  regularly;  and  fnMii  the  tribune 
of  that  club  he  hoped  to  overthrow  his  enemies  as  he  had  hitherto 
done. 

Naturally  sad,  suspicious,  and  timid,  he  became  mrtrc  melnn- 
cholv  and  mistrustful  than  ever.    He  never  went  out  without  being 


306  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

accompanied  by  several  Jacobins  armed  with  sticks,  who  were 
called  his  body-guard.  He  soon  commenced  his  denunciations  in 
the  popular  assembly.  "  All  corrupt  men,"  said  he,  "  must  be 
expelled  the  convention."  This  was  designating  the  friends  of 
Danton.  Robespierre  had  them  watched  with  the  most  minute 
anxiety.  Every  day  spies  followed  all  their  motions,  observing 
their  actions,  haunts,  and  conversation.  Robespierre  not  only 
attacked  the  Dantonists  at  the  Jacobins;  he  even  arose  against  the 
committee  itself,  and  for  that  purpose  he  chose  a  day  when 
Barrere  presided  in  the  popular  assembly.  At  the  close  of  the 
sitting  the  latter  returned  home  discouraged.  "  I  am  disgusted 
with  men,"  said  he  to  Villate.  "  What  could  be  his  motive  for 
attacking  you?"  inquired  the  other.  "Robespierre  is  insatiable," 
rejoined  Barrere;  "because  we  will  not  do  all  he  wishes,  he  must 
break  with  us.  If  he  talked  to  us  about  Thuriot,  Guffroi,  Rovere, 
Lecointre,  Panis,  Cambon,  Monestier,  and  the  rest  of  the  Dan- 
tonists, we  might  agree  with  him ;  let  him  even  require  Tallien, 
Bourdon  de  I'Oise,  Legendre,  Freron,  well;  but  Duval,  Audoin, 
Leonard  Bourdon,  Vadier,  Vouland — it  is  impossible  to  consent." 
To  give  up  members  of  the  committee  of  general  safety  was  to 
expose  themselves;  accordingly,  while  fearing,  they  firmly  awaited 
the  attack.  Robespierre  was  very  formidable,  with  respect  to  his 
power,  his  hatred,  and  his  designs ;  it  was  for  him  to  begin  the 
combat. 

But  how  could  he  set  about  it?  For  the  first  time  he  was  the 
author  of  a  conspiracy;  hitherto  he  had  taken  advantage  of  all 
popular  movements.  Danton,  the  Cordeliers,  and  the  faubourgs 
had  made  the  insurrection  of  August  lo  against  the  throne; 
IMarat,  the  Mountain,  and  the  commune  had  made  that  of  May  31 
against  the  Gironde ;  Billaud,  Saint-Just,  and  the  committees  had 
effected  the  ruin  of  the  commune  and  weakened  the  Mountain, 
Robespierre  remained  alone.  Unable  to  procure  assistance  from 
the  government,  since  he  had  had  declared  against  the  committees, 
he  had  recourse  to  the  populace  and  the  Jacobins.  The  principal 
conspirators  were  Saint-Just  and  Couthon  in  the  committee ; 
Fleuriot,  tlie  mayor,  and  Payan,  the  national  agent,  in  the  commune; 
Dumas,  the  president,  and  Coffinhal,  the  vice-president,  in  the  revo- 
lutionary tribunal ;  Henriot,  the  commander  of  the  armed  force, 
and  the  popular  society.  On  the  15th  Messidor,  three  weeks  after 
the  law  of  Prairial    and  twenty-four  days  before  the  9th   Ther- 


1794 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  307 


midor,  the  resolution  was  already  taken;  at  that  time  and  under 
that  date  Henriot  wrote  to  the  mayor :  "  You  shall  be  satisfied 
with  me,  comrade,  and  with  the  way  in  which  I  shall  proceed; 
trust  me,  men  who  love  their  country  easily  agree  in  directing  all 
their  steps  to  the  benefit  of  public  affairs.  I  would  have  wished, 
and  I  do  wish,  that  the  secret  of  the  operation  rested  with  us  two; 
the  wicked  should  know  nothing  of  it.     Health  and  brotherhood." 

Saint-Just  was  on  a  mission  to  the  army  of  the  north;  Robes- 
pierre hastily  recalled  him.  While  waiting  his  return  he  prepared 
the  public  mind  at  the  Jacobins.  In  the  sitting  of  the  3d  Thermidor 
he  complained  of  the  conduct  of  the  committees,  and  of  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  patriots,  whom  he  swore  to  defend.  "  There  must  be  no 
longer  traces  of  crime  or  faction,"  said  he,  "  in  any  place  what- 
ever. A  few  scoundrels  disgrace  the  convention;  but  it  will  not 
allow  itself  to  be  swayed  by  them."  He  then  urged  his  colleagues, 
the  Jacobins,  to  present  their  reflections  to  the  national  assembly. 
This  was  the  transaction  of  May  31.  On  the  4th  he  received  a  depu- 
tation from  the  department  of  the  Aisne,  who  came  to  complain  to 
him  of  the  operations  of  the  government,  to  which,  for  a  month 
past,  he  had  been  a  stranger.  "  The  cfMivcntion,"  said  Robes- 
pierre, in  his  reply  to  the  deputation.  "  in  the  situation  in  which  it 
now  stands,  gangrened  l)y  corruption,  and  being  wholly  unable  to 
recover  itself,  cannot  save  the  republic — both  must  perish.  The 
proscription  of  patriots  is  the  order  of  the  day.  As  for  me,  I  have 
one  foot  in  the  tomb;  in  a  few  days  tlic  other  will  follow  it.  The 
rest  is  in  the  hands  of  Providence."  He  was  then  slightly  indis- 
posed, and  he  purposely  exaggerated  his  discouragement,  his  fears, 
and  the  dangers  of  the  rcpul)lic  in  order  to  inflame  tlie  patriots, 
and  again  bind  the  fate  of  the  revolution  with  his  own. 

In  the  meantime  Saint-Just  arrived  from  the  anuy.  He  ascer- 
tained the  state  of  affairs  from  Ivoljcspicrrc.  He  presented  himself 
to  the  committees,  tlie  members  of  which  received  him  coldly; 
every  time  he  entered  they  ceased  to  (Icliberate.  Saint-Just,  who, 
from  their  silence,  a  few  chance  words,  and  the  expression  of  per- 
plexity or  hostility  on  th.cir  countenances,  saw  there  was  no  time 
to  be  lost,  pressed  Robes]ijerre  to  act.  His  luaxim  was  t()  strike 
at  once,  and  resolutely.  "  l^are,"'  said  he,  "  that  is  the  secret  of 
revolutions."  But  he  wished  to  prevail  on  Robespierre  to  take  a 
measure,  which  was  impossible,  by  urging  him  to  strike  his  foes 
without  apprising  tliem.     The  force  at  his  disposal  was  a  force  of 


308  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

revolutionary  opinion,  and  not  an  organized  force.  It  was  neces- 
sary for  him  to  seek  the  assistance  of  the  convention  or  of  the  com- 
mune, the  legal  authority  of  government,  or  the  extraordinary 
authority  of  insurrection.  Such  was  the  custom,  and  such  must 
be  all  coups  d'etat.  They  could  not  even  have  recourse  to  insurrec- 
Uon  until  after  they  had  received  the  refusal  of  the  assembly;  other- 
wise a  pretext  was  wanting  for  the  rising.  Robespierre  was  there- 
fore obliged  to  commence  the  attack  in  the  convention  itself.  He 
hoped  to  obtain  everything  from  It  by  his  ascendency,  or  if  contrary 
to  its  custom  it  resisted,  he  reckoned  on  the  people,  urged  by  the 
commune,  rising  on  the  9th  Thermidor  against  the  proscribed  of 
the  ]\Iountain,  and  the  committee  of  public  safety,  as  it  had  risen 
on  j\Iay  31  against  the  proscribed  of  the  Gironde  and  the  commis- 
sion of  twelve.  It  is  almost  always  by  the  past  that  man  regulates 
his  conduct  and  his  hopes. 

On  the  8th  Thermidor  he  entered  the  convention  at  an 
early  hour.  He  ascended  the  tribunal  and  denounced  the  com- 
mittee in  a  most  skillful  speech.  "  I  am  come,"  said  he,  "  to  de- 
fend before  you  your  authority  insulted,  and  liberty  violated.  I 
will  also  defend  myself;  you  will  not  be  surprised  at  this;  you 
do  not  resemble  the  tyrants  you  contend  with.  The  cries  of  out- 
raged innocence  do  not  importune  your  ears,  and  you  know  that 
this  cause  is  not  foreign  to  your  interests."  After  this  opening  he 
complained  of  those  who  had  calumniated  him ;  he  attacked  those 
who  sought  the  ruin  of  the  republic,  either  by  excesses  or  modera- 
tion ;  those  who  persecuted  pacific  citizens,  meaning  the  committees, 
and  tliose  wlio  persecuted  true  patriots,  meaning  the  ^Mountaineers. 
He  associated  himself  with  the  intentions,  past  conduct,  and  spirit 
of  the  convention;  he  added  that  its  enemies  were  his:  "What 
have  I  done  to  merit  persecution,  if  it  entered  not  into  the  general 
system  of  their  conspiracy  against  the  convention?  Have  you  not 
observed  that,  to  isolate  you  from  the  nation,  they  have  given  out 
tliat  you  are  dictators,  reigning  by  means  of  terror,  and  disavowed 
by  the  silent  wishes  of  all  Frenchmen?  For  myself,  what  faction 
do  I  belong  to?  to  yourselves.  What  is  that  faction  that,  from 
the  beginning  of  tlie  revolution,  has  overthrown  all  factions  and 
got  rid  of  acknowledged  traitors?  It  is  you,  it  is  the  people,  it  is 
l)rinciplcs.  That  is  the  faction  to  which  I  am  devoted,  and  against 
which  all  crimes  are  leagued.  T'or  at  least  six  weeks  my  inability 
to  do  good  and  to  clieck  evil  has  oblicfed  me  absolutelv  to  renounce 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  309 

1794 

my  functions  as  a  member  of  the  committee  of  public  safety. 
Has  patriotism  been  better  protected?  have  factions  been  more 
timid?  or  the  country  more  happy?  At  all  times  my  inlluence 
has  been  confined  to  pleading  the  cause  of  my  country  before  the 
national  representation  and  at  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion." 
After  having  attempted  to  confound  his  cause  with  that  of  the 
convention,  he  tried  to  excite  it  against  the  committees  by  dwelling 
on  the  idea  of  its  independence.  "  Representatives  of  the  people," 
said  he,  "  it  is  time  to  resume  the  pride  and  elevation  of  character 
which  befits  you.  You  are  not  made  to  be  ruled,  but  to  rule  the 
depositaries  of  your  confidence." 

While  he  thus  endeavored  to  tempt  the  assembly  by  the  re- 
turn of  its  power  and  the  end  of  its  slavery,  he  addressed  the  mod- 
erate party  by  reminding  tlicm  that  they  were  indebted  to  him 
for  the  lives  of  the  seventy-three,  and  by  holding  forth  hopes  of 
returning  order,  justice,  and  clen:iency.  He  spoke  of  changing  the 
devouring  and  trickster  system  of  finance,  of  softening  the  revolu- 
tionary government,  of  guiding  its  inlluence,  and  punishing  its 
prevaricating  agents.  Lastly,  lie  invoked  tlie  peo])le,  talked  of 
their  necessities,  and  of  llieir  power.  And  wIkmi  he  had  recalled  all 
that  could  act  upon  tlie  interests,  hopes,  or  fears  of  the  convention, 
he  added :  "  We  say,  then,  that  there  exists  a  conspiracy  against 
puljlic  liberty;  tliat  it  owes  its  strength  to  a  criminal  coalition  wliicli 
intrigues  in  the  very  heart  of  the  convention ;  that  this  coalition 
has  accomplices  in  the  committee  of  general  safely;  tliat  the  encnn"es 
of  the  republic  have  opposed  th.is  committee  t(j  the  committee  of 
public  safety,  and  have  thus  constituted  two  governments;  that 
members  of  the  committee  of  puhHc  safety  are  concerned  in  this 
plot;  that  the  coalition  thus  formed  scvks  the  ruin  both  of  patriots 
and  of  the  countr}*.  What  remedy  is  there  for  this  evil?  Punish 
the  traitors;  ccjmpose  anew  the  conimittee  of  general  safety;  jjurify 
tliis  committee,  and  make  it  siil^ordinate  to  tlie  C(jmmittee  of  puhhc 
safety;  purify  the  latter  committee  it.-.clf;  constitute  the  unity  of 
the  government  under  the  siii)reme  auih,.Ti;y  of  the  convention; 
crush  every  faction  under  the  weiglit  of  nation;'.!  autliority.  and 
establish  on  tlicir  ruin.-,  the  power  of  jir-^lice  and  liberty." 

Xot  a  murmin-,  not  a  mai'k  of  appkuise  welcomed  this  declara- 
tion of  \\-Ri\  Tlie  .-ilence  with  which  l\oi)csi)ierre  was  heard  con- 
tinued long  after  ^e  had  ceased  sjjcaking.  .Vnxious  looks  were 
exchanged  in  all  parts  of  the  doubting  a— embly.     At  length  Le- 


310  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

cointre  of  Versailles  arose  and  proposed  that  the  speech  should  be 
printed.  This  motion  was  the  signal  for  agitation,  discussion,  and 
resistance.  Bourdon  de  I'Oise  opposed  the  motion  for  printing 
the  speech  as  a  dangerous  measure.  He  was  applauded.  But 
Barrcre,  in  his  ambiguous  manner,  having  maintained  that  all 
speeches  ought  to  be  published,  and  Couthon  having  moved  that  it 
should  be  sent  to  all  the  communes  of  the  republic,  the  convention, 
intimidated  by  this  apparent  concord  of  the  two  opposite  factions, 
decreed  both  the  printing  and  circulation  of  the  speech. 

The  members  of  the  two  committees  thus  attacked,  who  had 
hitherto  remained  silent,  seeing  the  Mountain  thwarted  and  the 
majority  undecided,  thought  it  time  to  speak.  Vadier  first  opposed 
Robespierre's  speech  and  Robespierre  himself.  Cambon  went 
further.  "  It  is  time,"  lie  cried,  "  to  speak  the  w^hole  truth :  one 
man  paralyzed  the  resolution  of  the  national  assembly;  that  man 
is  Robespierre."  "  The  mask  must  be  torn  off,"  added  Billaud- 
Varennes,  "  wdiatever  face  it  may  cover;  I  would  rather  my  corpse 
should  serve  an  ambitious  man  for  his  throne  than  by  my  silence 
to  become  the  accomplice  of  his  crimes."  Panis,  Bentabole,  Char- 
lier,  Thirion,  Amar,  attacked  him  in  turn.  Freron  proposed  to 
the  convention  to  throw  off  the  fatal  yoke  of  the  committees.  "  The 
time  is  come,"  said  he,  "to  revive  liberty  of  opinion;  I  move  that 
the  assembly  revoke  the  decree  which  gives  the  committee  power 
to  arrest  the  representatives  of  the  people.  Who  can  speak  freely 
while  he  fears  an  arrest?"  Some  applause  was  heard;  but  the 
moment  for  the  entire  deliverance  of  the  convention  was  not  yet 
arrived.  It  was  necessary  to  contend  with  Robespierre  from  behind 
the  committees,  in  order  subsequently  to  attack  the  committees  more 
easily.  Freron's  motion  was  accordingly  rejected.  "  The  man 
who  is  prevented  by  fear  from  delivering  his  opinion,"  said  Billaud- 
Varennes,  looking  at  him,  "  it  not  worthy  the  title  of  a  representa- 
tive of  the  people."  Attention  was  again  drawn  to  Robespierre. 
The  decree  ordering  his  speech  to  be  printed  was  recalled,  and  the 
convention  submitted  the  speech  to  the  examination  of  the  com- 
mittees. Robespierre,  who  had  been  surprised  at  this  fiery  re- 
sistance, then  said:  "What!  I  had  the  courage  to  place  before 
the  assembly  truths  which  I  think  necessary  to  the  safety  of 
the  country,  and  you  send  my  discourse  for  the  examination  of  the 
members  whom  I  accuse."  He  retired,  a  little  discouraged,  but 
hoping  to  bring  back  the  assemblv  to  his  views,  or  rather,  bring 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  311 

1794 

it  into  subjection,  with  the  aid  of  the  conspirators  of  the  Jacobins 
and  the  commune. 

In  the  evening-  he  repaired  to  the  popular  society.  He  was 
received  with  enthusiasm.  He  read  the  speech  which  the  assembly 
had  just  condemned,  and  the  Jacobins  loaded  him  with  applause. 
He  then  recounted  to  them  the  attacks  wliich  had  been  directed 
against  him,  and  to  increase  their  excitement  he  added :  "  If  neces- 
sary, I  am  ready  to  drink  the  cup  of  Socrates."  "  Robespierre," 
cried  a  deputy,  "  I  will  drink  it  wnth  you."  "  The  enemies  of  Robes- 
pierre," cried  numbers  on  all  sides,  "  are  the  enemies  of  the  coun- 
try; let  them  be  named  and  they  shall  cease  to  live."  During  the 
whole  night  Robespierre  prepared  his  partisans  for  the  following 
day.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should  assemble  at  the  commune  and 
the  Jacobins,  in  order  to  be  ready  for  every  event,  while  he,  ac- 
companied by  his  friends,  repaired  to  the  assembly. 

The  committees  had  also  sjjent  the  night  in  deliberation.  Saint- 
Just  had  a])peared  among  them.  His  colleagues  tried  to  disunite 
him  from  the  triumvirate;  they  deputed  him  to  draw  up  a  report 
on  the  events  of  the  preceding  day  and  submit  it  to  them.  But 
instead  of  that,  he  drew  up  an  act  of  accusatiim,  which  he  would 
not  communicate  to  them,  and  said,  as  he  withdrew:  "You  have 
withered  my  heart;  I  am  going  to  open  it  to  the  convention." 
The  committees  placed  all  their  hope  in  the  courage  of  the  assembly 
and  the  union  of  parties.  The  ^Mountain  had  omitted  m^thing  to 
bring  about  this  salutary  agreement.  They  had  addressed  them- 
selves to  the  most  influential  members  of  the  Right  and  of  the 
Marsh.  They  had  entreated  P-oissy  d'Anglas  and  Durand  Mail- 
lane,  who  were  at  their  head,  to  join  them  against  Robespierre. 
They  liesitated  at  ilrst :  they  were  so  alarmed  at  his  power,  so  full 
of  resentment  against  the  Mountain,  that  they  dismissed  the  Dan- 
tonists  twice  witliout  listening  to  them.  At  last  the  Dantonists 
returned  to  the  charge  a  third  time,  and  then  the  Right  and  the 
Plain  engaged  to  support  them.  I'hcrc  was  tluis  a  conspiracy  on 
both  sides.  All  the  i)arties  of  the  assembly  were  united  against 
Robes])ierre,  all  the  accomplices  of  the  triumvirs  were  preparetl 
to  act  against  the  conventic^n.  In  this  state  of  affairs  the  sitting 
of  the  9th  Thermidor  began. 

The  members  of  the  assembly  repaired  there  earlier  than  usual. 
About  half-past  eleven  they  gathered  in  the  jiassages.  encouraging 
each  other.     The  ^Mountaineer  Bourdon  de  I'Oise  approaching  I)u- 


312  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

rand-Maillane,  a  moderate,  pressed  his  hand,  and  said :  "  The  peo- 
ple of  the  Right  are  excellent  men."  Rovere  and  Tallien  came  up 
and  mingled  their  congratulations  with  those  of  Bourdon.  At 
twelve  they  saw,  from  the  door  of  the  hall,  Saint-Just  ascend 
the  tribune.  "  Now  is  the  time,"  said  Tallien,  and  they  entered 
the  hall.  Robespierre  occupied  a  seat  in  front  of  the  tribune,  doubt- 
less in  order  to  intimidate  his  adversaries  with  his  looks.  Saint- 
Just  began:  "I  belong,"  he  said,  "to  no  faction;  I  will  oppose 
them  all.  The  course  of  things  has  perhaps  made  this  tribune  the 
Tarpeian  rock  for  him  who  shall  tell  you  that  the  members  of 
the  government  have  quitted  the  path  of  prudence."  Tallien  then 
interrupted  Saint-Just  and  exclaimed  violently :  "  No  good  citizen 
can  restrain  his  tears  at  the  wretched  state  of  public  affairs.  We 
see  nothing  but  divisions.  Yesterday  a  member  of  the  government 
separated  himself  from  it  to  accuse  it.  To-day  another  does  the 
same.  Alen  still  seek  to  attack  each  other,  to  increase  the  woes 
of  the  country,  to  precipitate  it  into  the  abyss.  Let  the  veil  be 
wholly  torn  asunder."  "It  must!  it  must!"  resounded  on  every 
side. 

Billaud-Varennes  spoke  from  his  seat.  "  Yesterday,"  said  he, 
"  the  society  of  Jacobins  was  filled  with  hired  men,  for  no  one 
had  a  card ;  yesterday  the  design  of  assassinating  the  members  of 
the  national  assembly  was  developed  in  that  society :  yesterday  I 
saw  men  uttering  the  most  atrocious  insults  against  those  who  have 
never  deviated  from  the  revolution.  I  see  on  the  Mountain  one 
of  those  men  who  threatened  the  republic;  there  he  is."  "Arrest 
him!  arrest  him!  "  was  the  general  cry.  The  sergeant  seized  him 
and  took  him  to  the  committee  of  general  safety.  "  The  time  is 
come  for  speaking  the  truth,"  said  Billaud.  "  The  assembly  would 
form  a  wrong  judgment  of  events  and  of  the  position  in  which  it 
is  placed,  did  it  conceal  from  itself  that  it  is  placed  between  two 
massacres.  It  will  perish,  if  feeble."  "No!  no!  It  will  not  per- 
ish !  "  exclaimed  all  the  members,  rising  from  their  seats.  They 
swore  to  sa\'e  the  republic.  The  spectators  in  the  gallery  applauded, 
and  cried:  "'  J'tz'c  la  convention  nationalc!  '"  The  impetuous  Lebas 
attempted  to  speak  in  defense  of  the  triumvirs :  he  was  not  allowed 
to  do  sr),  rind  Billaud  continued.  He  warned  the  convention  of  its 
danger>.  attacked  Robespierre,  pointed  out  his  accomplices,  de- 
nounced his  cimduct  and  liis  plans  of  dictatorship.  All  eyes  were 
directed  toward  him.     He   faced  tliem  firmlv  for  some  time;  but 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  31S 

1794 

at  length,  unable  to  contain  himself,  he  rushed  to  the  tribune.  The 
cry  of  "  Down  with  the  tyrant  "  instantly  became  general,  and 
drowned  his  voice, 

"Just  now,"  said  Tallien,  "I  required  that  the  veil  should 
be  torn  asunder.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  see  that  it  is  wholly 
sundered.  The  conspirators  are  unmasked;  they  will  soon  be  de- 
stroyed, and  liberty  will  triumph.  I  was  present  yesterday  at  the 
sitting  of  the  Jacobins;  I  trembled  for  my  country.  I  saw  the 
army  of  this  new  Cromwell  forming,  and  I  armed  myself  with  a 
poignard  to  stab  him  to  the  heart  if  the  national  convention  wanted 
courage  to  decree  his  impeachment."  He  drew  out  his  poignard, 
brandished  it  before  the  indignant  assembly,  and  moved,  before 
anything  else,  the  arrest  of  Henriot.  and  the  permanent  sitting  of  the 
assembly.  Both  motions  were  carried  in  the  midst  of  cries  of 
"  Vive  la  rcpiibliquc! "  Billaud  also  moved  the  arrest  of  three  of 
Robespierre's  most  daring  accomplices,  Dumas,  Boulanger,  and 
Dufrese,  Barrere  caused  the  convention  to  be  placed  under  the 
guard  of  the  armed  sections,  and  drew  up  a  proclamation  to  be 
caution.  Vadier  diverted  the  assembly  for  a  moment  from  the 
addressed  to  the  people.  Everyone  proposed  a  measure  of  pre- 
danger  which  threatened  it,  to  the  affair  of  Catherine  Theos.  "  Let 
us  not  be  diverted  from  the  true  object  of  debate,"  said  Tallien. 
"  I  will  undertake  to  bring  you  back  to  it,"  said  Robespierre.  "  Let 
us  turn  our  attention  to  the  tyrant,"  rejoined  Tallien,  attacking  him 
more  warmly  than  before. 

Robespierre,  after  attempting  to  speak  several  times,  ascend- 
ing and  descending  the  stairs  of  the  tribune,  while  his  voice  was 
drowned  by  cries  of  "  Down  with  the  tryant !  "  and  the  bell  which 
the  president,  Thuriot,  continued  ringing,  now  made  a  last  effort  to 
be  heard.  "  President  of  assassins,"  he  cried,  "  for  the  last  time, 
will  you  let  me  speak?"  But  Thuriot  continued  to  ring  his  bell. 
Robespierre,  after  glancing  at  the  spectators  in  the  public  gallery, 
who  remained  motionless,  turned  toward  the  Right.  ''  Pure  and 
virtuous  men,"  said  he,  ''  I  have  recourse  to  you ;  give  me  the 
hearing  which  the  assassins  refuse."  Xo  answer  was  returned; 
profound  silence  prevailed.  Then,  wholly  dejected,  he  returned 
to  his  place  and  sank  on  his  scat  exhausted  by  fatigue  and  rage. 
He  foamed  at  the  mouth  and  his  utterar.ce  was  choked.  "  Wretch  !  " 
said  one  of  the  ^lonnlain,  "  tlie  blood  of  DaiUon  chokes  thee." 
His  arrest  was  demanded  and  su])ported  on  all  sides.  Young  Robes- 


314  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

pierre  now  arose.  "  I  am  as  guilty  as  my  brother,"  said  he.  "  I 
share  his  virtues  and  I  w.ill  share  his  fate."  "  I  will  not  be  in- 
volved in  the  opprobrium  of  this  decree,"  added  Lebas;  "  I  demand 
my  arrest  too."  The  assembly  unanimously  decreed  the  arrest  of 
the  two  Robespierres,  Couthon,  Lebas,  and  Saint-Just.  The  latter, 
after  standing  for  some  time  at  the  tribune  with  unchanged  counte- 
nance, descended  with  composure  to  his  place.  He  had  faced  this 
protracted  storm  without  any  show  of  agitation.  The  triumvirs 
were  delivered  to  the  gendarmerie,  who  removed  them  amid  general 
applause.  Robespierre  exclaimed  as  he  went  out :  "  The  republic 
is  lost,  the  brigands  triumph."  It  was  now  half-past  five,  and  the 
sitting  was  suspended  till  seven. 

.  During  this  stormy  contest  the  accomplices  of  the  triumvirs 
had  assembled  at  the  commune  and  the  Jacobins.  Fleuriot,  the 
mayor,  Payan,  the  national  agent,  and  Henriot,  the  commandant, 
had  been  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  since  noon.  They  had  assembled 
the  municipal  officers  by  the  sound  of  the  drum,  hoping  that  Robes- 
pierre would  be  triumphant  in  the  assembly,  and  that  they  should 
not  require  the  general  council  to  decree  the  insurrection  or  the 
sections  to  sustain  it.  A  few  hours  after  a  sergeant  of  the  con- 
vention arrived  to  summon  the  mayor  to  the  bar  of  the  assembly, 
to  give  a  report  of  the  state  of  Paris.  "  Go,  and  tell  your  scoun- 
drels," said  Henriot,  "  that  we  are  discussing  how  to  purge  them. 
Do  not  forget  to  tell  Robespierre  to  be  firm,  and  to  fear  nothing." 
About  half-past  four  they  learned  the  arrest  of  the  triumvirs  and 
the  decree  against  their  accomplices.  The  tocsin  was  immediately 
sounded,  the  barriers  closed,  the  general  council  assembled,  and 
the  sectionaries  called  together.  The  cannoneers  were  ordered  to 
bring  their  pieces  to  the  commune,  and  the  revolutionary  committees 
to  take  the  oath  of  insurrection.  A  message  was  sent  to  the  Ja- 
cobins, who  sat  permanently.  The  municipal  deputies  were  re- 
ceived with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  "  The  society  watches  over 
the  country,"  they  were  told.  "  It  has  sworn  to  die  rather  than 
live  under  crime."  At  the  same  time  they  concerted  together  and 
establislied  rapid  communications  between  these  two  centers  of  the 
insurrection.  Henriot,  on  his  side,  to  arouse  the  people,  ran  through 
the  streets,  pisttjl  in  hand,  at  the  head  of  his  staff,  crying  "  To 
arms!"  haranguing  the  multitude  and  instigating  all  he  met  to 
repair  to  the  commune  to  save  the  country.  While  on  this  errand 
two  members  (jf  the  convention  perceived  him  in  the  Rue  Saint 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  315 

1794 

Honore.  They  summoned,  in  the  name  of  the  law,  a  few  gen- 
darmes to  execute  the  order  for  his  arrest :  they  obeyed,  and 
Henriot  was  pinioned  and  conveyed  to  the  committee  of  general 
safety. 

Nothing,  however,  was  decided  as  yet  on  either  side.  Each 
party  made  use  of  its  means  of  power;  the  convention  of  its  de- 
crees, the  commune  of  the  insurrection ;  each  party  knew  what 
would  be  the  consequences  of  defeat,  and  this  rendered  them  both 
so  active,  so  full  of  foresight  and  decision.  Success  was  long  un- 
certain. From  noon  till  five  the  convention  had  the  ujjpcr  hand ; 
it  caused  the  arrest  of  the  triumvirs,  Payan,  the  national  agent,  and 
Henriot,  the  commandant.  It  was  already  assembled,  and  the  com- 
mune had  not  yet  collected  its  forces:  but  from  six  to  eiglit  the 
insurgents  regained  their  position,  and  the  cause  of  the  convention 
was  nearly  lost.  During  this  interval  the  national  representatixes 
had  separated,  and  the  commune  had  redoubled  its  efforts  and 
audacity. 

Robespierre  had  been  transferred  to  the  Luxembourg,  liis 
brother  to  Saint  Lazare,  Saint-Just  to  the  ICcossais,  Couthon  to  La 
Bourbe,  Lebas  to  the  Concicrgerie.  The  commune,  after  liaxing 
ordered  the  jailors  not  to  receive  them,  sent  nmnici])al  ofiicers  with 
detachments  to  bring  them  away.  R()lx'S])ierre  was  hberated  first. 
and  conducted  in  triumph  to  the  Llotel  de  Ville.  On  arriving  he 
was  received  with  the  greatest  entlnisiasni :  '"Long  live  Robes- 
pierre! "  "  Down  wdth  the  traitors!  "  resounded  on  all  sides.  A  little 
before  Coffinhal  had  departed,  at  the  head  of  two  Inindred  can- 
noneers, to  release  Llenriot.  a\1io  was  detained  at  the  conmu'ltee 
of  general  safety.  It  was  now  seven  o'clock,  and  t'lc  conveiUion 
had  resumed  its  sitting.  Its  guard,  at  the  most,  was  a  hundred 
men.  Coffinhal  arrived,  made  his  way  tlirongli  tlic  ontcr  courts. 
entered  the  committee  chamber,  and  delivered  llenri(it.  The  latter 
repaired  to  the  Place  du  Carrousel,  harangued  the  cannoneers,  and 
ordered  them  to  point  their  ])ieces  on  tlie  convention. 

The  assembly  was  just  then  di-cussing  tlie  danger  lo  which  it 
was  exposed.  It  had  just  heard  ot'  the  alarming  success  of  the  con- 
spirators, of  the  insurrectional  orders  (.t"  the  coiinnnne.  the  rescue 
of  the  triumvirs,  their  presence  at  the  i  h")tel  de  \"ille,  tlie  rage  of 
the  Jacobins,  the  successive  convocation  oi  the  i-e\-olutionary  cam- 
cil  and  of  the  sections.  It  was  dreading  a  xi'ik'nl  iiuasion  every 
moment,  when  the  terrified  members  ui  the  eoinniittees  rushed   in. 


316  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

fleeing  from  Coffinhal.  They  learned  that  the  committees  were 
surrounded  and  Henriot  released.  This  news  caused  great  agita- 
tion. The  next  moment  Amar  entered  precipitately,  and  announced 
that  the  cannoneers,  acted  upon  by  Henriot,  had  turned  their 
pieces  upon  the  convention.  "  Citizens,"  said  the  president,  putting 
on  his  hat,  in  token  of  distress,  "  the  hour  is  come  to  die  at  our 
posts !  "  "  Yes,  yes !  we  will  die  there !  "  exclaimed  all  the  mem- 
bers. The  people  in  the  galleries  rushed  out,  crying :  "  To  arms ! 
Let  us  drive  back  the  scoundrels !  "  And  the  assembly  courageously 
outlawed  Henriot. 

Fortunately  for  the  assembly,  Henriot  could  not  prevail  upon 
the  cannoneers  to  fire.  His  influence  was  limited  to  inducing 
them  to  accompany  him,  and  he  turned  his  steps  to  the  Hotel  de 
Ville.  The  refusal  of  the  cannoneers  decided  the  fate  of  the  day. 
From  that  moment  the  commune,  which  had  been  on  the  point  of 
triumphing,  saw  its  afl^airs  decline.  Having  failed  in  a  surprise 
by  main  force,  it  was  reduced  to  the  slow  measures  of  the  insur- 
rection ;  the  point  of  attack  was  changed,  and  soon  it  was  no  longer 
the  commune  which  besieged  the  Tuileries,  but  the  convention 
which  marched  upon  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The  assembly  instantly 
outlawed  the  conspiring  deputies  and  the  insurgent  commune.  It 
sent  commissioners  to  the  sections  to  secure  their  aid;  named  the 
representative  Barras  commandant  of  the  armed  force,  joining  with 
him  Freron,  Rouvere,  Bourdon  de  I'Oise,  Feraud,  Leonard  Bourdon, 
Legendre,  all  men  of  decision ;  and  made  the  committees  the  center 
of  operation. 

The  sections,  on  the  invitation  of  the  commune,  had  assembled 
about  nine  o'clock;  the  greater  part  of  the  citizens,  in  repairing 
thither,  were  anxious,  uncertain,  and  but  vaguely  informed  of  the 
quarrels  between  the  commune  and  the  convention.  The  emissaries 
of  the  insurgents  urged  them  to  join  them,  and  to  march  their 
battalions  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The  sections  confined  themselves 
to  sending  a  deputation ;  but  as  soon  as  the  commissioners  of  the 
convention  arrived  among  them  had  communicated  to  them  the 
decrees  and  invitations  of  the  assembly,  and  informed  them  that 
there  was  a  leader  and  a  rallying  point,  they  hesitated  no  longer. 
Their  battalions  presented  themselves  in  succession  to  the  assembly ; 
they  swore  to  defend  it,  and  they  passed  in  files  through  the  hall 
amid  shouts  of  enthusiasm  and  sincere  applause.  "  The  moments 
are  precious,"  said  Freron;  "  we  must  act;  Barras  is  gone  to  take 


1794 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  8I7 


orders  of  the  committees;  we  will  march  against  the  rebels;  we 
will  summon  them  in  the  name  of  the  convention  to  deliver  up  the 
traitors,  and  if  they  refuse,  we  will  reduce  the  building  in  which 
they  are  to  ashes."  "  Go,"  said  the  president,  "  and  let  not  day 
appear  before  the  heads  of  the  conspirators  have  fallen."  A  few 
battalions  and  some  pieces  of  artillery  were  placed  around  the  as- 
sembly, to  guard  it  from  attack,  and  the  sections  then  marched 
in  two  columns  against  the  commune.  It  was  now  nearly  mid- 
night. 

The  conspirators  were  still  assembled.  Robespierre,  after  hav- 
ing been  received  with  cries  of  enthusiasm,  promises  of  devotedness 
and  victory,  had  been  admitted  into  the  general  council  between 
Payan  and  Fleuriot.  The  Place  de  Greve  was  filled  with  men,  and 
glittered  with  bayonets,  pikes,  and  cannon.  They  waited  only  the 
arrival  of  the  sections  to  proceed  to  action.  The  presence  of  their 
deputies  and  the  sending  of  municipal  commissioners  among  them 
had  inspired  reliance  on  their  aid.  Henriot  answered  for  every- 
thing. The  conspirators  looked  for  certain  victory;  they  appointed 
an  executive  commission,  prepared  addresses  to  the  armies,  and 
drew  up  various  lists.  Half-past  midnight,  however,  arrived,  and 
no  section  had  yet  appeared,  no  order  had  yet  been  given,  the  tri- 
umvirs were  still  sitting,  and  the  crowd  on  the  Place  de  Greve 
became  discouraged  by  this  tardiness  and  indecision.  A  report 
spread  in  whispers  that  the  sections  had  declared  in  favor  of  the 
convention,  that  the  commune  was  outlawed,  and  that  the  conven- 
tional troops  were  advancing.  The  eagerness  of  the  armed  multi- 
tude had  already  abated,  when  a  few  emissaries  of  the  assembly 
glided  among  them  and  raised  the  cry:  "  Vizw  la  convention!  " 
Several  voices  repeated  it.  They  then  read  tlie  proclamation  of 
outlawry  against  the  commune,  and  after  hearing  it  the  whole 
crowd  dispersed.  The  Place  de  Greve  was  deserted  in  a  moment. 
Henriot  came  down  a  few  minutes  after,  saber  in  hand,  to  excite 
their  courage;  but  finding  no  one,  cried,  "What!  is  it  possible? 
Those  rascals  of  cannoneers,  wlio  saved  my  life  five  hours  ago, 
now  forsake  me."  He  went  up  again.  At  that  moment  the  col- 
umns of  the  convention  arrived,  surrounded  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
silently  took  possession  of  all  its  outlets,  and  then  shouted:  "  Vive 
la  convention  nationale!  "  The  conspirators,  finding  they  were  lost, 
sought  to  escape  the  violence  of  their  enemies  by  committing 
violence   on   themselves.     Robespierre    shattered    his   jaw    with    a 


318  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

pistol-shot ;  -  Lebas  followed  his  example,  but  succeeded  in  kill- 
ing himself;  Robespierre  the  younger  jumped  from  a  window 
on  the  third  story,  but  survived  the  fall;  Couthon  hid  himself 
under  a  table ;  Saint-Just  awaited  his  fate ;  Coffinhal,  after  re- 
proaching Henriot  with  cowardice,  threw  him  from  a  window  into 
a  gutter  and  fled.  Meantime  the  conventionalists  penetrated  into 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  traversed  the  desolate  halls,  seized  the  con- 
spirators, and  carried  them  in  triumph  to  the  assembly.  Bourdon 
entered  the  hall  crying  "Victory!  victory!  the  traitors  are  no 
more !  ''  "  The  wretched  Robespierre  is  there,"  said  the  president ; 
"  they  are  bringing  him  on  a  litter.  Doubtless  you  would  not  have 
him  brought  in."  "No!  no!"  they  cried;  "carry  him  to  the 
Placie  de  la  Revolution !  "  He  was  deposited  for  some  time  at  the 
committee  of  general  safety  before  he  was  transferred  to  the  Con- 
ciergerie;  and  here,  stretched  on  a  table,  his  face  disfigured  and 
bloody,  exposed  to  the  looks,  the  invectives,  the  curses  of  all,  he 
beheld  the  various  parties  exulting  in  his  fall,  and  charging  upon 
him  all  the  crimes  that  had  been  committed.  He  displayed  much 
insensibility  during  his  last  moments.  He  was  taken  to  the  Con- 
ciergerie,  and  afterward  appeared  before  the  revolutionary  tribunal, 
which,  after  identifying  him  and  his  accomplices,  sent  them  to  the 
scaffold.  On  the  loth  Thermidor,  about  five  in  the  evening,  he 
ascended  the  death  cart,  placed  between  Henriot  and  Couthon, 
mutilated  like  himself.  His  head  was  enveloped  in  linen  saturated 
with  blood;  his  face  was  livid,  his  eyes  almost  visionless.  An 
immense  crowd  thronged  around  the  cart,  manifesting  the  most 
boisterous  and  exultant  joy.  They  congratulated  and  embraced 
each  other,  loading  him  with  imprecations,  and  pressed  near  to  view 
him  more  closely.  The  gendarmes  pointed  him.  out  with  their 
sabers.  As  to  him,  he  seemed  to  regard  the  crowd  with  contemptu- 
ous pity ;    Saint-Just  looked  calmly  at  them ;    the  rest,  in  number 

'^  This  is  the  usual  statement  but  it  is  a  controverted  question  whether 
Robespierre  sliot  himself  or  was  shot  by  Meda.  A  more  responsible  opinion 
would  seem  to  be  that  he  was  shot  by  Meda  as  the  latter  entered  the  room. 
See  Belloc's  "  Robespierre,"  especially  note  iii,  in  the  appendix,  where  all 
the  evidence  on  both  sides  is  summarized.  Yet  Professor  J.  R.  Moreton-Mac- 
donald  in  the  volume  on  "  The  French  Revolution  "  in  the  Cambridge  Modern 
History  series,  who  is  the  latest  writer  of  eminence  upon  this  subject,  says,  p.  371 : 
"  Robespierre's  jaw  was  shattered  by  a  pistol  shot,  whether  self-inflicted,  or  the 
work  of  a  certain  Mt'da,  who  afterwards  claimed  the  honor,  has  never  been 
decided."  May  not  Rolicspicrrc  have  tried  to  shoot  one  of  his  associates  and 
bungled,  or  else  the  pislc!  was  struck  up? 


FALL     OF     ROBESPIERRE  319 

1794 

twenty-two,  were  dejected.  Robespierre  ascended  the  scaffold  last; 
when  his  head  fell  shouts  of  applause  arose  in  the  air  and  lasted 
for  some  minutes. 

With  him  ended  the  reign  of  terror,  altliough  he  was  not 
the  most  zealous  advocate  of  that  system  in  his  party.  If  he  sought 
for  supremacy,  after  obtaining  it  he  would  have  employed  modera- 
tion; and  the  reign  of  terror,  which  ceased  at  his  fall,  would  also 
have  ceased  with  his  triumph.  I  regard  his  ruin  to  have  been  in- 
evitable; he  had  no  organized  force;  his  partisans,  though  numer- 
ous, were  not  enrolled;  his  instrument  was  the  force  of  o])inion  and 
of  terror;  accordingly,  not  being  al)le  to  surprise  his  foes  by  a 
strong  hand,  after  the  fashion  of  Cromwell,  he  sought  to  intimidate 
them.  Terror  not  succeeding,  he  tried  insurrection.  But  as  the 
convention,  with  the  support  of  the  committees,  had  become  coura- 
geous, so  the  section,  relying  on  the  courage  of  the  convention, 
would  naturally  declare  against  the  insurgents.  By  attacking  the 
government,  he  aroused  the  assembly ;  by  arousing  the  assembly. 
he  aroused  the  people;  and  this  coalition  necessarily  ruined  him. 
The  convention  on  the  9th  Thermidor  was  no  longer,  as  on  May 
31,  divided,  undecided,  opposed  to  a  compact,  numerous,  and  daring 
faction.  All  parties  were  united  by  defeat,  misfortune,  and  tlie 
proscription  ever  threatening  them,  and  would  naturally  become 
allied  in  the  event  of  a  struggle.  It  did  not,  tliercfore,  depend  on 
Robespierre  to  escape  defeat.  As  little  was  it  in  his  power  to 
secede  from  the  committees.'"'  At  the  point  he  had  attained,  one 
wishes  to  be  sole;  one  is  consumed  by  one's  passions,  deceived  by 
one's  hopes,  and  by  one's  fortune,  hitherto  successful ;  and  war 
once  declared,  peace,  repose,  tlie  partition  of  power,  are  as  imp(js- 
sible  as  justice  and  clemency  when  the  scaffolds  have  once  been 
erected.  One  must  tlien  fall  by  tlie  means  by  which  one  has  arisen  ; 
the  man  of  action  must  perish  by  tlie  scaffold,  as  tiic  conciuenjr 
by  war. 

•"•The  progress  of  events  from  the  fall  of  T')aiUon  to  th.e  (U^tli  of  Rulics- 
pierre  has  been  called  the  "labyrinth  of  the  revolution,"  X(i  otluT  period  is 
so  intricate.  F,ven  the  actnal  sequence  of  event-  on  the  Sth  and  oth  'i'herinidor 
is  still  a  debated  question.  The  be-t  authority  for  the  period  is  IbTirauU, 
"La  Revolution  dc  'J'hcnnidor."  Paris.  iS;S.  Add  Vilate.  -  Causrs  s,\):-'rs 
de  la  Revolution  du  IX^  Thrrmidny  ■' ;  V.ni  .Syl>el.  ••llistcM-y  of  the  l"rencli 
Revolution,*'  vol.  IV.  pp.  5TfT. ;  Wallon.  " /.r  Tnlunal  revolutionairr."  vol.  V. 
pp.  179-220;  Hamcl,  "Robespierre,"  pp.  744-''^0.^.  i-  too  imrtisan  to  be  trnst\vortli> . 
The  notes  to  Fletcher's  Carlyle.  "French  Revolution."  vol.  VI.  ch.  vi..  are 
valuable. 


Chapter  XII 

THE   THERMIDORIAN    REACTION 
JULY  28,  1794-MAY  20,   1795 

THE  9th  Thermidor  was  the  first  day  of  the  revolution 
in  which  those  fell  who  attacked.  This  indication  alone 
manifested  that  the  ascendant  revolutionary  movement 
had  reached  its  term.  From  that  day  the  contrary  movement 
necessarily  began.  The  general  rising  of  all  parties  against  one 
man  was  calculated  to  put  an  end  to  the  compression  under  which 
they  labored.  In  Robespierre  the  committees  subdued  each  other, 
and  the  decemviral  government  lost  the  prestige  of  terror  which 
had  constituted  its  strength.  The  committees  liberated  the  con- 
vention, which  gradually  liberated  the  entire  republic.  Yet  they 
thought  they  had  been  working  for  themselves,  and  for  the  pro- 
longation of  the  revolutionary  government,  while  the  greater  part 
of  those  who  had  supported  them  had  for  their  object  the  overthrow 
of  the  dictatorship,  the  independence  of  the  assembly,  and  the 
establishment  of  legal  order.  From  the  day  after  the  9th  Ther- 
midor there  were,  therefore,  two  opposite  parties  among  the  con- 
querors, that  of  the  committees  and  that  of  the  Mountain,  which 
was  called  the  Thermidorian  party. 

The  former  was  deprived  of  half  its  forces;  besides  the  loss 
of  its  chief,  it  no  longer  had  the  commune,  whose  insurgent  members, 
to  the  number  of  seventy-two,  had  been  sent  to  the  scaffold,  and 
which,  after  its  double  defeat  under  Hebert  and  under  Robespierre, 
was  not  again  reorganized,  and  remained  without  direct  influence. 
But  this  party  retained  the  direction  of  affairs  through  the  com- 
mittees. All  its  members  were  attached  to  the  revolutionary  sys- 
tem; some,  such  as  Billaud-Varennes,  Collot  d'Herbois.  Barrere, 
Vadier,  Amar,  saw  it  was  their  only  safety ;  others,  such  as  Carnot, 
Cambon,  and  the  Prieurs,  feared  the  counter-revolution,  and  the 
punishment  of  their  colleagues.  In  the  convention  it  reckoned 
all  the  commissioners  hitherto  sent  on  missions,  several  of  the 
Mountain  who  had  signalized  themselves  on  the  9th  Thermidor, 

320 


THEREACTION  321 

1794 

and  the  remnant  of  Robespierre's  party  which  was  called  the  New 
Mountain,  or  more  often  Cretois  (from  la  crete,  top  of  a  moun- 
tain). Without,  the  Jacobins  were  attached  to  it;  and  it  still  had 
the  support  of  the  faubourgs  and  of  the  lower  class. 

The  Thermidorian  party  was  composed  of  the  greater  number 
of  the  conventionalists.  All  the  Center  of  the  assembly,  and  what 
remained  of  the  Right,  joined  the  Mountain,  who  had  abated  their 
former  exaggeration  of  views.  The  coalition  of  the  Moderates, 
Boissy  d'Anglas,  Sieyes,  Cambaceres,  Chenier,^  Thirbeaudeau,  with 
the  Dantonists,  Tallien,  Freron,  Legendre,  Barras,  Bourdon  de 
rOise,  Rovere,  Bentabole,  Dumont,  and  the  two  Alerlins,  entirely 
changed  the  character  of  tlie  assembly.  After  the  9th  Thermi- 
dor  the  first  step  of  this  party  was  to  secure  its  empire  in  the 
convention.  Soon  it  found  its  way  into  the  government,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  excluding  the  previous  occupants.  Sustained  by  public 
opinion,  by  the  assembly,  by  the  committees,  it  advanced  openly 
toward  its  object;  it  proceeded  against  the  principal  Decemvirs 
and  some  of  their  agents.  As  these  had  many  partisans  in  Paris, 
it  sought  the  aid  of  the  young  men  against  the  Jacobins,  of  the  sec- 
tions against  the  faubourgs.  At  the  same  time  to  strengthen  it 
it  recalled  to  the  assembly  all  the  deputies  whom  the  committee  of 
public  safety  had  proscribed:  first,  the  seventy-three  who  had  pro- 
tested against  May  31,  and  then  the  surviving  victims  of  that  day 
themselves.  The  Jacobins  exhibited  excitement :  it  closed  their 
club;  the  faubourgs  raised  an  insurrection:  it  disarmed  them. 
After  overthrowing  the  revolutionary  government  it  directed  its 
attention  to  the  establishment  of  another,  and  to  the  introduction, 
under  the  constitution  of  the  Year  III.,  of  a  feasible,  liberal,  regu- 
lar, and  stable  order  of  things,  in  place  of  tlie  extraordinary  and 
provisional  state  in  which  the  convention  had  been  from  its  com- 
mencement until  then.     But  all  this  was  accomplished  gradually. 

The  tw(3  parties  were  not  long  before  they  began  to  differ, 
after  their  common  victory.  The  revolutionary  tril-unal  was  an 
especial  object  of  general  horror.  On  the  iith  Tlierniidr)r  it  was 
suspended;  but  Billaud-\'arennes,  in  the  same  sitting,  had  the 
decree  of  suspension  rescinded.  1  le  maintained  that  tlie  accomplices 
of  Robespierre  alone  were  guilty,  that  th.e  majority  of  tlie  judges 
and  jurors  being  men  of  integrity,  it  was  desirable  to  retain  tlieni 

'  Marie-Joseph  Chenier.     His  brother  Andre,  the  poet,  had  been  guillotined 
on  7th  Thermidor. 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

in  their  offices.  Barrere  presented  a  decree  to  that  effect :  he  urged 
that  the  triumvirs  had  done  nothing  for  the  revolutionary  govern- 
ment ;  that  they  had  often  even  opposed  its  measures ;  that  their 
only  care  had  been  to  place  their  creatures  in  it,  and  to  give  it  a 
direction  favorable  to  their  own  projects;  he  insisted,  in  order  to 
strengthen  that  government,  upon  retaining  the  law  of  suspects 
and  the  tribunal,  with  its  existing  members,  including  Fouquier- 
Tinville.  At  this  name  a  general  murmur  rose  in  the  assembly. 
Freron,  rendering  himself  the  organ  of  the  general  indignation,  ex- 
claimed :  "  I  demand  that  the  earth  be,  at  length,  delivered  from 
that  monster,  and  that  Fouquier  be  sent  to  hell,  there  to  wallow  in 
the  blood  he  has  shed."  His  proposition  was  applauded,  and 
Fouquier's  accusation  decreed.^  Barrere,  however,  did  not  regard 
himself  as  defeated ;  he  still  retained  toward  the  convention  the 
imperious  language  which  the  old  committee  had  made  use  of  with 
success;  this  was  at  once  habit  and  calculation  on  his  part,  for  he 
well  knew  that  nothing  is  so  easily  continued  as  that  which  has 
been  successful. 

But  the  political  tergiversations  of  Barrere,  a  man  of  noble 
birth,  and  who  was  a  royalist  Feuillant  before  August  lo,  did  not 
countenance  his  assuming  this  imperious  and  inflexible  tone.  "  Who 
is  this  president  of  the  Feuillants,"  said  Merlin  de  Thionville, 
"  who  assumes  to  dictate  to  us  the  law  ?  "  The  hall  resounded  with 
applause.  Barrere  became  confused,  left  the  tribune,  and  this  first 
check  of  the  committees  indicated  their  decline  in  the  convention. 
The  revolutionary  tribunal  continued  to  exist,  but  with  other  mem- 
bers and  another  organization.  The  law  of  the  22d  Prairial  was 
abolished  on  August  i,  1794,  and  there  were  now  as  much  delibera- 
tion and  moderation,  as  many  protecting  forms  in  trials,  as  before 
there  had  been  precipitation  and  inhumanity.  This  tribunal  was 
no  longer  made  use  of  against  persons  formerly  suspected,  who 
were  still  detained  in  prison,  though  under  milder  treatment,  and 
who,  by  degrees,  were  restored  to  liberty  on  the  plan  proposed  by 
Camille  Desmoulins  for  his  committee  of  clemency. 

On   the    13th    Thermidor   the  government   itself  became   the 

-  This  is  ^lignet's  original  statement,  but  it  is  clear  he  is  confused  as  to 
time.  The  revolutionary  tribunal  was  about  the  last  feature  of  the  terror  gov- 
ernment to  be  abolished.  Fouquier's  trial  was  in  the  spring  of  1795  (March 
28-May  6).  He  and  fifteen  others  were  executed  on  May  7,  and  ten  days  later 
the  tribunal's  final  sitting  took  place.  It  was  legislated  out  of  existence  on 
the  31st. 


THEREACTION  323 

1794 

subject  of  discussion.  The  committee  of  public  safety  was  deficient 
in  many  members;  Herault  de  Sechelles  had  never  been  replaced; 
Jean-Bon-Saint- Andre  and  Prieur  de  la  Marne  were  on  missions; 
Robespierre,  Couthon,  and  Saint-Just  had  perished  on  the  scaffold. 
In  the  places  of  these  were  appointed  Tallien,  Breard,  Eschas- 
seriaux,  Treilhard,  Thuriot,  and  Laloi,  whose  accession  lessened 
still  more  the  influence  of  the  old  members.  At  the  same  time  were 
reorganized  the  two  committees,  so  as  to  render  them  more  de- 
pendent on  the  assembly  and  less  so  on  one  another.  The  com- 
mittee of  public  safety  was  charged  with  military  and  diplomatic 
operations;  that  of  general  safety  with  internal  administration. 
As  it  was  desired,  by  limiting  the  revolutionary  power,  to  calm 
the  fever  which  had  excited  the  multitude,  and  gradually  to  disperse 
them,  the  daily  meetings  of  the  sections  were  reduced  to  one  in 
every  ten  days;  and  the  pay  of  forty  sous  a  day.  lately  given  to 
every  indigent  citizen  who  attended  them,  was  discontinued. 

These  measures  being  carried  into  effect,  on  the  nth  Fruc- 
tidor,  one  month  after  the  death  of  Robespierre,  Lecointre  of 
Versailles  denounced  Billaud,  Collot,  Barrere.  of  the  committee 
of  public  safety ;  and  Vadier,  Amar,  and  Vouland,  of  the 
committee  of  general  safety.  The  evening  before  Tallien  had 
vehemently  assailed  the  reign  of  terror,  and  Lecointre  was  en- 
couraged to  his  attack  by  the  sensation  which  Tallien's  speech  had 
produced.  He  brought  twenty-three  charges  against  the  accused ; 
he  imputed  to  them  all  the  measures  of  cruelty  or  tyranny  which 
they  threw  on  the  triumvirs,  and  called  them  the  successors  of 
Robespierre.  This  denunciaticjn  agitated  the  assembly,  and  more 
especially  tliose  who  sup])orted  tlie  committees,  or  who  wished  that 
divisions  might  cease  in  the  republic.  "  If  the  crimes  Lecointre  re- 
proaches us  witli  were  ])rovc(l,"  said  r.illaud-Varcnnes.  "  if  they 
were  as  real  as  tliey  are  absurd  and  cliimerical.  tlicre  is.  doubtless, 
not  one  of  us  l)ut  would  deserve  to  lose  his  head  on  the  scaffold. 
But  I  defy  Leccjintre  to  prove,  by  documents  or  any  evidence  worthy 
of  belief.' any  of  the  facts  he  has  charged  us  with."  He  repelled 
the  charges  brought  against  him  i)y  Lecointre:  he  rcj)roached  his 
enemies  with  being  corru])t  and  intriguing  men.  who  wished  to 
sacrifice  him  to  the  memory  of  Dantcn,  an  odious  cons])irator,  the 
hope  of  all  parricidal  factions.  "  What  seek  these  men,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  what  seek  these  men  wlio  call  us  the  successors  of  R(-)bcs- 
pierre?     Citizens,  know  you  what  they  <eek  ?     To  destroy  liberty 


624  THE     FRENCH    REVOLUTION 

1794 

on  the  tomb  of  the  tyrant."  Lecointre's  denunciation  was  prema- 
ture; almost  all  the  convention  pronounced  it  calumnious.  The 
accused  and  their  friends  gave  way  to  outbursts  of  unrestrained 
and  still  powerful  indignation,  for  they  were  now  attacked  for  the 
first  time ;  the  accuser,  scarcely  supported  by  anyone,  was  silenced. 
Billaud-Varennes  and  his  friends  triumphed  for  the  time. 

A  few  days  after,  the  period  for  renewing  a  third  of  the  com- 
mittee arrived.  The  following  members  were  fixed  on  by  lot  to 
retire :  Barrere,  Carnot,  Robert  Lindet,  in  the  committee  of  public 
safety;  Vadier,  Vouland,  Moise  Baile,  in  the  committee  of  general 
safety.  They  were  replaced  by  Thermidorians ;  and  Collot  d'Her- 
bois,  as  well  as  Billaud-Varennes,  finding  themselves  too  weak,  re- 
signed. Another  circumstance  contributed  still  more  to  the  fall  of 
their  party,  by  exciting  public  opinion  against  it ;  this  was  the  pub- 
licity given  to  the  crimes  of  Joseph  Lebon  and  Carrier,  two  of  the 
proconsuls  of  the  committee.  They  had  been  sent,  the  one  to 
Arras  and  to  Cambrai,  the  frontier  exposed  to  invasion ;  the  other 
to  Nantes,  the  limit  of  the  Vendean  war.  They  had  signalized  their 
mission  by,  beyond  all  others,  displaying  a  cruelty  and  a  caprice 
of  tyranny,  which  are,  however,  generally  found  in  those  who  are 
invested  with  supreme  human  power.  Lebon,  young  and  of  a 
weak  constitution,  was  naturally  mild.  On  a  first  mission  he  had 
been  humane ;  but  he  was  censured  for  this  by  the  committee,  and 
sent  to  Arras,  with  orders  to  show  himself  somewhat  more  revolu- 
tionary. Not  to  fall  short  of  the  inexorable  policy  of  the  committee, 
he  gave  way  to  unheard  of  excesses ;  he  mingled  debauchery  with 
extermination ;  he  had  the  guillotine  always  in  his  presence,  and 
called  it  holy.  He  associated  with  the  executioner  and  admitted 
him  to  his  table.  Carrier,  having  more  victims  to  strike,  surpassed 
even  Lebon ;  he  was  bilious,  fanatical,  and  naturally  blood-thirsty. 
He  had  only  awaited  the  opportunity  to  execute  enormities  that  the 
imagination  even  of  Marat  would  not  have  dared  to  conceive.  Sent 
to  the  borders  of  an  insurgent  country,  he  condemned  to  death  the 
whole  hostile  population — priests,  women,  children,  old  men,  and 
girls.  As  the  scaffold  did  not  suffice  for  his  cruelty,  he  substituted 
a  company  of  assassins,  called  Marat's  company,  for  the  revolution- 
ary tribune,  and,  for  the  guillotine,  boats,  with  false  bottoms,  by 
means  of  whicli  he  drowned  his  victims  in  the  Loire.  Cries  of 
vengeance  and  justice  were  raised  against  these  enormities.  After 
the  9th  Thermidor  Lebon  was  attacked  first,  because  he  was  more 


THEREACTION  325 

especially  the  agent  of  Robespierre.  Carrier,  who  was  that  of  the 
committee  of  public  safety,  and  of  whose  conduct  Robespierre  had 
disapproved,  was  prosecuted  subsequently. 

There  were  in  the  prisons  of  Paris  ninety-four  people  of 
Nantes,  sincerely  attached  to  the  revolution  and  who  had  defended 
their  town  with  courage  during  the  attack  made  on  it  by  the  Ven- 
deans.  Carrier  had  sent  them  to  Paris  as  federalists.  It  had  not 
been  deemed  safe  to  bring  them  before  the  revolutionary  tribunal 
until  the  9th  Thermidor ;  they  were  then  taken  there  for  the  pur- 
pose of  unmasking,  by  their  trial,  the  crimes  of  Carrier.  They 
were  tried  purposely  with  prolonged  solemnity;  their  trial  lasted 
nearly  a  month;  there  was  time  given  for  public  opinion  to  declare 
itself;  and  on  their  acquittal  there  was  a  general  demand  for  jus- 
tice on  the  revolutionary  committee  of  Nantes,  and  on  the  pro- 
consul. Carrier.  Legendre  renewed  Lecointre's  impeachment  of 
Billaud,  Barrcre,  Collot,  and  Vadier,  who  were  generously  defended 
by  Carnot,  Prieur,  and  Cambon,  their  former  colleagues,  who  de- 
manded to  share  their  fate.  Lecointre's  motion  was  not  attended 
with  any  result;  and,  for  the  present,  thev  only  brought  to  trial 
the  members  of  the  revolutionary  committee  of  Xantes ;  but  we 
may  observe  the  progress  of  the  Thermidorian  party.  This  time 
the  members  of  the  committee  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
defense,  and  the  convention  simply  passed  to  the  order  of  the  day, 
on  the  question  of  the  denunciation  made  l)y  Legendre,  without 
voting  it  calimmious,  as  tliey  had  done  that  of  Lecointre. 

The  revolutionary  democrats  were,  however,  still  very  power- 
ful in  Paris:  if  they  had  lost  the  commune,  the  tribunal,  the  con- 
vention, and  the  committee,  they  yet  retained  the  Jac^ibins  and 
the  faubourgs.  It  was  in  these  popular  societies  that  their  party 
concentrated,  especially  for  the  purpose  of  defending  themselves. 
Carrier  attended  them  assiduously  and  invoked  their  assistance; 
Billaud-Varennes,  and  Collot  dTIerbois  also  resorted  to  them;  but 
these,  being  somewhat  less  threatened,  were  circimispect.  They  were 
accordingly  censured  tor  their  silence.  "  The  lion  sleeps."  replied 
Billaud-Varennes,  "  but  his  waking  will  be  terrible."  This  club 
had  been  expurgated  after  tlie  loth  Thcnnidor,  and  it  had  con- 
gratulated the  convention  in  the  name  of  the  regenerated  societies 
on  the  fall  of  Rol)espierre  and  of  tyranny.  About  this  time,  as 
many  of  its  leaders  were  proceeded  against  and  many  Jacobins 
were  imprisoned  in  the  departments,  it  came  in  the  name  of  the 


326  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

united  societies  "  to  give  utterance  to  the  cry  of  grief  that  resounded 
from  every  part  of  the  rei)ublic,  and  to  the  voice  of  oppressed  pa- 
triots, plunged  in  the  dungeons  which  the  aristocrats  had  just  left." 

The  convention,  far  from  yielding  to  the  Jacobins,  prohibited, 
for  the  purpose  of  destroying  their  influence,  all  collective  petitions, 
branch  associations,  and  correspondence  between  the  parent  society 
and  its  offsets,  and  in  this  way  disorganized  the  famous  confedera- 
tion of  the  clubs.  The  Jacobins,  rejected  from  the  convention, 
began  to  agitate  Paris,  where  they  were  still  masters.  Then  the 
lliermidorians  also  began  to  convoke  their  people  by  appealing  to 
the  support  of  the  sections."  At  the  same  time  Freron  called  the 
young  men  to  arms  in  his  journal,  I'Orateur  dii  Peuple,  and  placed 
himself  at  their  head.  This  new  and  irregular  militia  called  itself 
La  jeuncsse  doree  dc  Freron.  All  those  who  composed  it  belonged 
to  the  rich  and  the  middle  class;  they  had  adopted  a  particular  cos- 
tume, called  Costume  a  la  victime.  Instead  of  the  blouse  of  the 
Jacobins,  they  wore  a  square  open  coat  and  very  low  shoes ;  the 
hair,  long  at  the  sides,  was  turned  up  behind,  with  tresses  called 
cadenettcs;  they  were  armed  with  short  sticks,  leadened  and  formed 
like  bludgeons.  A  portion  of  these  young  men  and  of  the  section- 
aries  were  royalists ;  the  others  followed  the  impulse  of  the 
moment,  which  was  anti-revolutionary.  The  latter  acted  without 
object  or  ambition,  declaring  in  favor  of  the  strongest  party,  espe- 
cially when  the  triumph  of  that  party  promised  to  restore  order, 
the  want  of  which  was  generally  felt.  The  other  contended  under 
the  Thermidorians  against  the  old  committees,  as  the  Thermi- 
dorians  had  contended  under  the  old  committees  against  Robes- 
pierre; it  waited  for  an  opportunity  of  acting  on  its  own  account, 
which  occurred  after  the  entire  downfall  of  the  revolutionary  party. 
In  the  violent  situation  of  the  two  parties,  actuated  by  fear  and  re- 
sentment, they  pursued  each  other  unrelentingly,  and  often  came 
to  blows  in  the  streets  to  the  cry  of  "Vive  la  Montague! "  or 
"  Vive  la  convention!  "  The  Jeunesse  Doree  were  powerful  in  the 
Palais  Royal,  where  they  were  supported  by  the  shopkeepers ;  but 
the  Jacobins  were  the  strongest  in  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries,  which 
was  near  their  club. 

These  rjuarrels  became  more  animated  every  day,  and   Paris 

3  On  December  24.  1794,  the  forty-eight  sections  of  Paris  were  reduced  to 
twelve,  and  their  local  meetin2;s  to  one  every  ten  days. — Schmidt,  "  Tableaux 
dc  la  Revolution!'  vol.  II.  pp.  228,  254. 


T  H  E     R  E  A  C  T  I  O  N  327 

1794 

was  transformed  into  a  field  of  battle,  where  the  fate  of  the  parties 
was  left  to  the  decision  of  arms.  This  state  of  war  and  disorder 
would  necessarily  have  an  end ;  and  since  the  parties  had  not  the 
wisdom  to  come  to  an  understanding,  one  or  the  other  must  in- 
evitably carry  the  day.  The  Thermidorians  were  the  party  in 
progress,  and  victory  naturally  fell  to  them.  On  the  day  following 
that  on  which  Billaud  had  spoken  of  the  waking  of  the  lion  in  the 
popular  society,  there  was  great  agitation  throughout  Paris.  It 
was  wished  to  take  the  Jacobin  Club  by  assault.  Men  shouted 
in  the  streets :  "  The  great  Jacobin  conspiracy !  Outlaw  the 
Jacobins!  "  At  this  period  the  revolutionary  committee  of  Nantes 
were  being  tried.  On  their  defense  they  pleaded  that  they  had  re- 
ceived from  Carrier  the  sanguinary  orders  they  had  executed, 
which  led  the  convention  to  enter  into  an  examination  of  his  con- 
duct. Carrier  was  allowed  to  defend  himself  before  the  decree  was 
passed  against  him.  He  justified  his  cruelty  by  the  cruelty  of  the 
Vendeans.  and  the  maddening  fury  of  civil  war.  "  When  I  acted," 
he  said,  "  the  air  still  seemed  to  resound  with  the  civic  songs  of 
twenty  thousand  martyrs,  who  had  shouted  '  Vive  la  rcpubliquc! ' 
in  the  midst  of  tortures.  How  could  the  voice  of  humanity,  which 
had  died  in  this  terrible  crisis,  be  heard?  What  would  my  ad- 
versaries have  done  in  my  place?  I  saved  the  republic  at  Xantes; 
my  life  has  been  devoted  to  my  country,  and  I  am  ready  to  die 
for  it."  Out  of  500  voters,  498  were  for  the  imi)eachment ;  the 
other  2  voted  for  it,  but  conditionally. 

The  Jacobins,  finding  their  o])ponents  were  going  from  sub- 
altern agents  to  the  representatives,  regarded  themselves  as  lost. 
They  endeavored  to  rouse  the  multitude,  less  t(j  defend  Carrier 
than  for  the  su])port  of  their  party,  which  was  threatened  more 
and  more.  But  they  were  ke])t  in  check  by  the  Jeunesse  Doree  and 
the  sectionaries,  who  eventually  proceeded  to  the  place  of  their 
sittings  to  dissolve  tlie  club.  A  sharp  conflict  ensued.  The  be- 
siegers broke  tlie  windows  with  stones.  ft)rccd  the  doors,  and  dis- 
persed the  Jac(j1)ins  after  s..nie  resistance  (jn  their  part.  The  latter 
com])lained  to  the  convent i<ni  of  this  violence.  Rewbcl,  deputed 
to  make  a  repr^rt  on  tlie  subject,  was  not  favorable  to  them. 
"  Where  was  tyranny  organized?  "  said  he.  *'  At  the  Jacobin  Club. 
Where  had  it  its  supports  and  its  satellites?  At  the  Jacobin  Club. 
Who  covered  France  with  mourning,  tlircw  families  into  despair, 
filled   the   republic   with   bastiles,   made   the   republican   system   so 


328  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794 

odious  that  a  slave  laden  with  fetters  would  have  refused  to  live 
under  it?  The  Jacobins,  Who  regret  the  terrible  reign  we  have 
lived  under?  The  Jacobins.  If  you  have  not  courage  to  decide  in 
a  moment  like  this,  the  republic  is  at  an  end,  because  you  have 
Jacobins."  The  convention  suspended  them  provisionally,  in  order 
to  expurgate  and  reorganize  them,  not  daring  to  destroy  them  at 
once.  The  Jacobins,  setting  the  decree  at  defiance,  assembled  in 
arms  in  their  usual  place  of  meeting;  the  Thermidorian  troop  who 
had  already  besieged  them  there  came  again  to  assail  them.  It 
surrounded  the  club  with  cries  of  "Long  live  the  convention!" 
"  Down  with  the  Jacobins !  "  The  latter  prepared  for  defense ; 
they  left  their  seats,  shouting  "  Long  live  the  republic !  "  rushed 
to  tlie  doors,  and  attempted  a  sortie.  At  first  they  made  a  few 
prisoners,  but  soon  yielding  to  superior  numbers,  they  submitted 
and  traversed  the  ranks  of  the  victors,  who,  after  disarming  them, 
covered  them  with  hisses,  insults,  and  even  blows.  These  illegal 
expeditions  were  accompanied  by  all  the  excesses  which  attend 
party  struggles. 

The  next  day,  November  12,  1794,  commissioners  came  to  close 
the  club  and  put  seals  on  its  registers  and  papers,  and  from  that 
moment  the  society  of  the  Jacobins  ceased  to  exist.  A  handful  of 
old  members  continued  the  club  under  another  name,  Societe  du 
Pantheon,  and  even  met  for  a  short  time  in  the  next  year  in  the 
original  Jacobin  convent.  That  popular  body  had  powerfully  serv^ed 
the  revolution,  when,  in  order  to  repel  Europe,  it  was  necessary  to 
place  the  government  in  the  multitude,  and  to  give  the  republic  all 
the  energy  of  defense ;  but  now  it  only  obstructed  the  progress  of 
the  new  order  of  things. 

The  situation  of  affairs  was  changed;  liberty  was  to  succeed 
the  dictatorship,  now  that  the  salvation  of  the  revolution  had  been 
effected,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  revert  to  legal  order  in  order 
to  preserve  it.  An  exorbitant  and  extraordinary  power,  like  the 
confederation  of  the  clubs,  would  necessarily  terminate  with  the 
defeat  of  the  party  which  had  supported  it,  and  that  party  itself 
expire  with  the  circumstances  which  had  given  it  rise. 

Carrier,  brought  before  the  tribunal,  was  tried,  and  condemned 
to  be  executed  on  December  16,  1794,  with  the  majority  of  his 
accomplices.  During  the  trial,  the  seventy-three  deputies,  whose 
protest  against  May  31  had  excluded  them  from  the  assemblies, 
were  reinstated.     ^Merlin  de  Douai  moved  their  recall  in  the  name  of 


T  H  E     R  E  A  C  T  I  O  N  329 

1794 

the  committee. of  public  safety;  his  motion  was  received  with  ap- 
plause, and  the  seventy-three  resumed  their  seats  in  the  convention. 
The  seventy-three,  in  their  turn,  tried  to  obtain  the  return  of  the 
outlawed  deputies,  but  they  met  with  warm  opposition.  The 
Thermidorians  and  the  members  of  the  new  committees  feared  that 
such  a  measure  would  be  calling  the  revolution  itself  into  question. 
They  were  also  afraid  of  introducing-  a  new  party  into  the  conven- 
tion, already  divided,  and  of  recalling  implacable  enemies,  who 
might  cause,  with  regard  to  themselves,  a  reaction  similar  to  that 
which  had  taken  place  against  the  (jld  committees.  Accordingly, 
they  vehemently  opposed  the  motion,  and  :\lcrlin  de  Douai  went 
so  far  as  to  say:  "  Do  you  want  to  throw  open  the  doors  of  the 
Temple?  "  The  young  son  of  Louis  XVI.  was  confined  there,  and 
the  Girondists,  on  account  of  the  results  of  May  31,  were  con- 
founded with  the  royalists;  besides,  May  31  still  figured  among 
the  revolutionary  dates  beside  August  10  and  July  14.  The  retro- 
grade movement  had  yet  some  steps  to  take  before  it  reached  that 
period.  The  republican  counter-revolution  had  turned  back  from 
the  9th  Thermidor,  1794,  to  October  3,  1793,  the  day  on  which  tlie 
seventy-three  had  been  arrested,  but  not  to  June  2,  1793,  when 
the  twenty-two  were  arrested.  After  overthrowing  Robespierre 
and  the  committee  it  had  to  attack  Marat  and  the  Mountain.  In 
the  almost  geometrical  progression  of  popular  movement  a  few 
months  were  still  necessary  to  effect  this. 

They  went  on  to  abolish  the  decemviral  system.  The  decree 
against  the  priests  and  nobles,  who  had  formed  two  proscribed 
classes  under  the  reign  of  terror,  was  revoked;  the  maxinuim  was 
abolished  December  2^,,  1794,  in  order  to  restore  ci^nfidence  by 
putting  an  end  to  commercial  tyranny:  the  general  and  earnest 
effort  was  to  substitute  the  most  elevated  liberty  for  the  despotic 
pressure  of  the  committee  of  public  safety.  This  period  was  als(_) 
marked  by  the  independence  of  the  ])ress.  the  restoration  of  religious 
worship,  and  the  return  oi  the  proi)erty  confiscated  from  the  feder- 
alists during-  the  reign  of  the  committees. 

Here  was  a  complete  reaction  against  the  revolutionary  gov- 
ernment; it  soon  reached  Marat  and  the  Mountain.  After  the 
9th  Thermidor  it  had  been  considered  necessary  to  o])pose  a  great 
revolutionary  reputation  to  tliat  of  lv)l)es])icrre,  and  Marat  liad 
been  selected  for  tlii-^  ]:)urpose.  To  him  were  decreed  the  honors 
of  the  Pantheon,  wliich  Roljespicrre,  while  in  power,  had  deferred 


330  T  H  E     F  R  E  N  C  11     R  E  V  0  L  U  T  I  O  N 

1794-1795 

granting  him.  He,  in  his  turn,  was  now  attacked.  His  bust  was 
in  the  convention,  the  theaters,  on  the  public  squares,  and  in  the 
popular  assemblies.  The  Jeunesse  Doree  broke  that  in  the  Theatre 
Fevdeau.  The  Mountain  complained,  but  the  convention  decreed 
that  no  citizen  could  obtain  the  honors  of  the  Pantheon,  nor  his 
bust  be  placed  in  the  convention,  until  he  had  been  dead  ten  years. 

The  bust  of  Marat  disappeared  from  the  hall  of  the  convention, 
and  as  the  excitement  was  very  great  in  the  faubourgs,  the  sections, 
the  usual  support  of  the  assembly,  defiled  through  it.  There  was, 
also,  opposite  the  Invalides,  an  elevated  mound,  a  Mountain,  sur- 
mounted by  a  colossal  group,  representing  Hercules  crushing  a 
hydra.  The  section  of  the  Halle-au-ble  demanded  that  this  should 
be  removed.  The  Left  of  the  assembly  murmured.  "  The  giant," 
said  a  member,  "  is  an  emblem  of  the  people."  "  All  I  see  in  it  is 
a  mountain,"  replied  another,  "  and  what  is  a  Mountain  but  an 
eternal  protest  against  equality."  These  w^ords  were  much  ap- 
plauded, and  sufficed  to  carry  the  petition  and  overthrow  the  monu- 
ment of  the  victory  and  domination  of  a  party. 

Next  were  recalled  the  proscribed  conventionalists ;  already, 
some  time  since,  their  outlawry  had  been  reversed.  Isnard  and 
Louvet  wrote  to  the  assembly  to  be  reinstated  in  their  rights ;  they 
were  met  by  the  objection  as  to  the  consequences  of  May  31  and 
the  insurrections  of  the  departments.  "  I  will  not,"  said  Chenier, 
who  spoke  in  their  favor,  "  I  will  not  so  insult  the  national  conven- 
tion as  to  bring  before  them  the  phantom  of  federalism,  which  has 
been  preposterously  made  the  chief  charge  against  your  colleagues. 
They  fled,  it  will  be  said;  they  hid  themselves.  This,  then,  is  their 
crime!  would  that  this,  for  the  welfare  of  the  republic,  had  been 
the  crime  of  all !  Why  were  there  not  caverns  deep  enough  to  pre- 
serve to  the  country  the  meditations  of  Condorcet,  the  eloquence 
to  Vergniaud?  Why  did  not  some  hospitable  land,  on  the  loth 
Thermidor,  give  back  to  light  that  colony  of  energetic  patriots  and 
virtuous  republicans?  But  projects  of  vengeance  are  apprehended 
from  these  men,  soured  by  misfortune.  Taught  in  the  school  of 
suffering,  they  have  learned  only  to  lament  human  errors.  No,  no; 
Condorcet,  Rabaud-Saint-Etienne,  Vergniaud,  Camille  Desmoulins 
seek  not  holocausts  of  blood ;  their  manes  are  not  to  be  appeased 
by  hecatombs."  The  Left  opposed  Chenier's  motion.  "  You  are 
about,"  cried  Bentabole,  "to  rouse  every  passion;  if  you  attack 
the  insurrection  of  ]May  31,  you  attack  the  eighty  thousand  men 


T  H  E     R  E  A  C  T  I  O  N  331 

1794-1795 

who  concurred  in  it."  "  Let  us  take  care,"  replied  Sieyes,  "  not  to 
confound  the  work  of  tyranny  with  that  of  principles.  When  men, 
supported  by  a  subaltern  authority,  the  rival  of  ours,  succeeded  in 
organizing  the  greatest  of  crimes,  on  the  fatal  May  31  and  June  2, 
it  was  not  a  work  of  patriotism,  but  an  outrage  of  tyranny;  from 
that  time  you  have  seen  the  convention  domineered  over,  the  ma- 
jority oppressed,  the  minority  dictating  laws.  I'he  i)resent  session 
is  divided  into  three  distinct  ])eriods ;  till  May  31  there  was  op- 
pression of  the  convention  1>y  the  people;  till  the  9th  Thermidor. 
oppression  of  the  people  of  the  convention,  itself  the  object  of  tyr- 
anny; and  lastly,  since  the  9th  Thermidor,  justice,  as  regards 
the  convention,  has  resumed  its  rights."  He  demanded  the  recall 
of  the  proscribed  members,  as  a  pledge  of  union  in  the  assembly 
and  of  security  for  the  republic.  ■Merlin  de  Douai  immediately 
proposed  their  return  in  the  name  of  the  committee  of  public  safety; 
it  was  granted,  and  after  eighteen  months'  prcxscription  the  twenty- 
two  conventionalists  resumed  their  seats ;  among  them  were  Isnard, 
Louvet,  Lanjuinais,*  Kervelegan,  Henri  la  Riviere,  La  Reveillicre, 
Lepeaux,  and  Lesage,  all  that  remained  of  the  brilliant  but  unfortu- 
nate Gironde.  They  joined  the  moderate  party,  which  was  com- 
posed daily  more  and  more  of  the  remains  of  different  parties.  For 
old  enemies,  forgetting  their  resentments  and  their  contest  for 
domination,  because  thev  had  now  the  same  interests  and  the  same 
objects,  became  allies.  It  was  the  commencement  of  pacification 
between  those  who  wished  for  a  repuhhc  against  the  royalists,  and 
a  practicable  constitution,  in  opposition  to  tlie  revolutionists.  At 
this  period  all  measures  against  the  federalists  were  rescinded,  and 
the  Girondists  assumed  the  lead  of  the  republican  counter-rcvo 
lution. 

The  convention  was.  Jiowexer.  carried  nuicli  too  far  by  the 
partisans  of  reaction;  in  its  desire  to  repair  all  and  to  punish  all 
it  fell  into  excesses  of  justice.  After  the  aboliiidn  of  the  decem- 
viral  regime,  the  ])ast  should  liave  been  buried  in  oblivion,  and  the 
revolutionary  abyss  closed  after  a  few  expiritory  victims  had  been 
thrown  into  it.  Security  alone  1)rings  about  ])acilication  ;  and  iiacifi- 
cation  only  admits  of  liberty.  I'y  again  entering  tipon  a  course 
characterized  by  ])assion.  they  only  effected  a  transference  of  tyr- 
anny, violence,  and  calamity.  Hitherto  the  Ijoiu-geoisie  had  been 
sacrificed  to  tlie  multitude,  to  the  cousuukt^  ;  n.nv  it  was  ju-t  the 
'  l.anjninais  was  not  an  outri.i^lit  diroiu!i>t. 


332  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1794-1795 

reverse.  Stock-jobbing  was  substituted  for  the  maximum,  and 
informers  of  the  middle  class  altogether  surpassed  the  popular 
informers.  All  who  had  taken  part  in  the  dictatorial  government 
were  proceeded  against  with  the  fiercest  determination.  The  sec- 
tions, the  seat  of  the  middle  class,  required  the  disarming  and 
punishment  of  the  members  of  their  revolutionary  committees, 
composed  of  sans-culottes.  There  was  a  general  hue  and  cry  against 
the  terrorists,  and  the  number  included  under  this  denomination 
was  daily  increased.  The  departments  denounced  all  the  former 
proconsuls,  thus  rendering  desperate  a  numerous  party,  in  reality 
no  longer  to  be  feared,  since  it  had  lost  all  power,  by  thus  threaten- 
ing it  with  great  and  perpetual  reprisals. 

Dread  of  proscription  and  several  other  reasons  disposed 
them  for  revolt.  The  general  want  was  terrible.  Labor  and  its 
produce  had  been  diminished  ever  since  the  revolutionary  period, 
during  which  the  rich  had  been  imprisoned  and  the  poor  had  gov- 
erned ;  the  suppression  of  the  maximum  had  occasioned  a  violent 
crisis,  which  the  traders  and  farmers  turned  to  account,  by  disas- 
trous monopoly  and  jobbing.  To  increase  the  difficulty,  the  as- 
signats  were  falling  into  discredit,  and  their  value  diminished  daily. 
More  than  eight  thousand  millions'  worth  of  them  had  been  issued. 
The  insecurity  of  this  paper  money,  by  reason  of  the  revolutionary 
confiscations,  which  had  depreciated  the  national  property,  the  want 
of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  merchants,  tradesmen,  etc.,  in  the 
stability  of  the  revolutionary  government,  which  they  considered 
merely  provisional,  all  this  had  combined  to  reduce  the  real  value 
of  the  assignats  to  one-fifteenth  of  their  nominal  value.  They 
were  received  reluctantly,  and  specie  was  hoarded  up  with  all  the 
greater  care,  in  proportion  to  the  increasing  demand  for  it  and  the 
depreciation  of  paper  money.  The  people,  in  want  of  food  and 
without  the  means  of  buying  it,  even  when  they  held  assignats,  were 
in  utter  distress.  They  attributed  this  to  the  merchants,  the  farmers, 
the  landed  and  other  proprietors,  to  the  government,  and  dwelt 
with  regret  upon  the  fact  that  before,  under  the  committee  of  public 
safety,  they  had  enjoyed  both  power  and  food.  Tlie  convention  had 
indeed  appointed  a  committee  of  subsistence  to  supply  Paris  with 
provisions,  but  this  committee  had  great  difficulty  and  expense  in 
procuring  from  day  to  day  the  supply  of  fifteen  hundred  sacks  of 
flour  necessary  to  support  this  immense  city ;  and  tlie  people,  who 
waited  in  crowds  for  hours  together  before  the  bakers'  shops,  for 


THEREACTION  333 

1795 

the  pound  of  bad  bread  distributed  to  each  inhabitant,  were  loud 
in  their  complaints,  and  violent  in  their  murmurs.  They  called 
Boissy  d'Anglas,  president  of  the  committee  of  subsistence,  Boissy- 
Faniine.  Such  was  the  state  of  the  fanatical  and  exasperated  mul- 
titude, when  its  former  leaders  were  brought  to  trial. 

On  the  1 2th  Ventose,  a  short  time  after  the  return  of  the  re- 
maining Girondists,  the  assembly  had  decreed  the  arrest  of  Billaud- 
Varennes,  Collot  d'Herbois,  Barrere,  and  Vadier.  Their  trial 
before  the  convention  was  appointed  to  commence  on  the  3d  Ger- 
minal. On  the  1st  (March  20,  1795),  the  Decade  day,  when  the 
sections  used  to  assemble,  their  partisans  organized  a  riot  to  pre- 
vent their  being  brought  to  trial;  the  outer  sections  of  the  Fau- 
bourgs Saint  Antoine  and  Saint  Alarceau  were  devoted  to  their 
cause.  From  these  quarters  they  proceeded,  half  petitioners,  half 
insurgents,  toward  the  convention  to  demand  bread,  the  constitu- 
tion of  '93,  and  the  liberation  of  the  imprisoned  patriots.  They 
met  a  few  young  men  on  their  way,  whom  they  threw  into  the 
basins  of  the  Tuileries.  The  news,  however,  soon  spread  that  the 
convention  was  exposed  to  danger,  and  that  the  Jacobins  were 
about  to  liberate  their  leaders,  and  the  Jeunesse  Dorce.  followed  by 
about  5000  citizens  of  the  inner  sections,  came,  dispersed  the  men 
of  the  faubourgs,  and  acted  as  a  guard  for  the  assembly.  The 
latter,  warned  by  this  new  danger,  revived,  on  the  motion  of  Sieyes, 
the  old  martial  law,  under  the  name  of  Loi  de  Grande  Police. 

This  rising  in  favor  of  the  accused  having  failed,  they  were 
brought  before  the  convention  on  the  3d  Germinal.  Vadier  alone 
was  contumacious.  Their  conduct  was  investigated  with  the  great- 
est solemnity:  they  were  charged  with  having  tyrannized  over  the 
people  and  oppressed  the  convention.  Though  proofs  were  not 
wanting  to  support  this  charge,  the  accused  defended  themselves 
with  much  address.  They  ascribed  to  Robespierre  the  oppression 
of  the  assembly  and  of  tliemsclvcs ;  they  endeavored  to  jKUliate 
their  own  conduct  by  citing  the  measures  taken  by  the  committee 
and  adopted  by  the  convention,  by  urging  ilic  excitement  of  the 
period,  and  the  necessity  of  securing  the  defense  and  safety  of  the 
republic.  Their  former  colleagues  appeared  as  witnesses  in  their 
favor,  and  wished  to  make  common  cause  willi  them.  The  Cretois 
(the  name  then  given  to  tlie  remnant  of  the  Abumtain)  also  sup- 
ported them  warmly.  Their  trial  had  lasted  nine  days,  and  each 
sitting  had  been  occupied  by  the  prosecution  and  the  defense.     The 


334.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

sections  of  the  faubourgs  were  greatly  excited.  The  mobs  which 
had  collected  every  day  since  the  ist  Germinal  increased  twofold 
on  the  1 2th  (April  i),  and  a  new  rising  took  place,  in  order  to 
suspend  the  trial,  which  the  first  rising  had  failed  to  prevent.  The 
agitators,  more  numerous  and  bold  on  this  occasion,  forced  their 
way  through  the  guard  of  the  convention  and  entered  the  hall, 
having  written  with  chalk  on  their  hats  the  words  "  Bread,"  "  The 
Constitution  of  '93,"  "  Liberty  for  the  patriots."  Many  of  the 
deputies  of  the  Crete  declared  in  their  favor;  the  other  members, 
astounded  at  the  tumult  and  disorder  of  this  popular  invasion, 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  inner  sections  for  their  deliverance.  All 
debating  was  at  an  end.  The  toscin,  which  had  been  removed  from 
the  commune  after  its  defeat  and  placed  on  the  top  of  the  Tuileries, 
where  the  convention  sat,  sounded  the  alarm.  The  committee  or- 
dered the  drums  to  beat  to  arms.  In  a  short  time  the  citizens  of 
the  nearest  sections  assembled,  marched  in  arms  to  assist  the  con- 
vention, and  rescued  it  a  second  time.  It  sentenced  the  accused, 
whose  cause  was  the  pretext  for  this  rising,^  to  transportation,  and 
decreed  the  arrest  of  seventeen  members  of  the  Crete  who  had 
favored  the  insurgents,  and  might,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  their 
accomplices.  Among  these  were  Cambon,  Ruamps,  Leonard  Bour- 
don, Thuriot,  Chasles,  Amar,  and  Lecointre,  who,  since  the  recall 
of  the  Girondists,  had  returned  to  the  ^Mountain.  On  the  following 
day  they  and  the  persons  sentenced  to  transportation  were  con- 
veyed to  the  castle  of  Ham. 

The  events  of  the  12th  Germinal  decided  nothing.  The  fau- 
bourgs had  been  repulsed,  but  not  conquered ;  and  both  power  and 
confidence  must  be  taken  from  a  party  by  a  decisive  defeat  before 
it  is  effectually  destroyed.  After  so  many  questions,  decided 
against  the  democratists,  there  still  remained  one  of  the  utmost 
importance — the  constitution.  On  this  depended  the  ascendency 
of  the  multitude  or  the  bourgeoisie.     The  supporters  of  the  revo- 

^  The  fact  that  the  rising  of  I2th  Germinal  was  due  to  economic  and 
social  discontent,  and  not  to  political  causes,  is  well  brought  out  by  Von  Sybel, 
"  French  Revolution,"  vol.  IV.  252  fif.  The  repeal  of  the  maximum  law  hastened 
the  crisis.  It  was  used  by  some  of  the  IMountain,  who  had  been  opposed  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Girondists,  in  the  hope  of  procuring  a  political  alternation. 
The  timely  arrival  of  some  battalions  of  the  national  guard,  commanded  by 
Pichcgru,  saved  the  constitution.  It  was  this  rising  which  made  the  convention 
resolve  to  stamp  out  the  last  vestige  of  the  terror  and  so  bring  Fouquier- 
Tinville  to  trial.  Collot  d'Hcrbois,  Rillaud-Varennes,  Barrerc,,  and  Vadier 
were  also  condemned  to  deportation.    The  last  managed  to  escape. 


THEREACTION  335 

1795 

lutionary  government  then  fell  back  on  the  democratic  consti- 
tution of  '93,  which  presented  to  them  the  means  of  resuming 
the  authority  they  had  lost.  Their  opponents,  on  the  other  hand, 
endeavored  to  replace  it  by  a  constitution  which  would  secure  all 
the  advantage  to  them,  by  concentrating  the  government  a  little 
more,  and  giving  it  to  the  middle  class.  For  a  month,  both  parties 
were  preparing  for  this  last  contest.  The  constitution  of  1793, 
having  been  sanctioned  by  the  people,  enjoyed  a  great  prestige.  It 
was  accordingly  attacked  with  infinite  precaution.  At  first  its 
assailants  engaged  to  carry  it  into  execution  without  restriction; 
next  they  appointed  a  commission  of  eleven  members  to  prepare 
the  organic  laws,  which  were  to  render  it  practicable:  by  and  by 
they  ventured  to  suggest  objections  to  it  on  the  ground  that  it 
distributed  power  too  loosely,  and  recognized  only  one  assembly 
dependent  on  the  people,  even  in  its  measures  of  legislation.  At 
last  a  sectionary  deputation  went  so  far  as  to  term  the  constitution 
of  '93  a  decemviral  constitution,  dictated  by  terror.  All  its  parti- 
sans, at  once  indignant  and  filled  with  fears,  organized  an  insur- 
rection to  maintain  it.  This  was  another  May  31,  as  terrible  as 
the  first,  but  which,  not  having  the  support  of  an  all-powerful 
commune,  not  being  directed  by  a  general  commandant,  and  not 
having  a  terrified  convention  and  submissive  sections  to  deal  with, 
had  not  the  same  result. 

The  conspirators,  warned  by  the  failure  of  the  risings  of  the 
ist  and  I2th  Germinal,  omitted  nothing  to  make  up  for  their  want 
of  direct  object  and  of  organization.  On  the  ist  Prairial''  (May 
20),  in  the  name  of  the  people,  insurgent  for  the  ])urpose  of  ob- 
taining bread  and  their  rights,  they  decreed  the  abolition  of  the 
revolutionary  government,  the  establislunent  of  the  democratic 
constitution  of  '93,  the  dismissal  and  arrest  of  the  members  of  the 
existing  government,  the  liberation  of  the  patriots,  tlie  convocation 
of  the  primary  assemblies  on  the  25th  Prairial,  the  convocation  of 

"  Cy.  Von  Sylicl,  "History  of  tlic  French  Revolution,"  vol.  TV.  pp.  309-315; 
Schmidt,  "Tableaux  ch-  la  Rrz'olnlwn."  vol.  1 L  p.  3-3  ff-  I-il<f  that  of  the  i_'th 
Germinal,  this  risini^  was  also  chiefly  economic,  thonn^h  there  was  much  more 
politics  in  it  than  in  the  first.  Von  Syhel  says  the  daily  ration  of  food  di'^trihuted 
was  a  half-pound  of  hread  rnid  a  half-;)ound  of  rice.  Prices  lia.d  soared  heyond 
all  previous  figures  hetween  the^e  two  in-urrectinn^^,  (^win'j;  I0  the  resumption  (^i 
specie  export  on  April  27.  .As  a  con-efiuence.  the  di-parity  hetween  .uold  coin 
and  the  paper  assignats  hecame  t^reater  than  ever.  I^clnnidt.  vol.  II.  pj).  ,i^f>-i:^y. 
cites  the  case  of  a  louis  d'or  (20  francs)  heiuf^  olTcred  for  sale  for  900  francs  in 
April,   1795. 


336  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

the  legislative  assembly,  destined  to  replace  the  convention,  on  the 
25th  Messidor,  and  the  suspension  of  all  authority  not  emanating 
from  the  people.  They  determined  on  forming  a  new  municipal- 
ity, to  serve  as  a  common  center;  to  seize  on  the  barriers,  tele- 
graph,^ cannon,  tocsins,  drums,  and  not  to  rest  till  they  had  se- 
cured repose,  happiness,  liberty,  and  means  of  subsistence  for  all 
the  French  nation.  They  invited  the  artillery,  gendarmes,  horse 
and  foot  soldiers,  to  join  the  banners  of  the  people,  and  marched 
on  the  convention. 

Meantime,  the  latter  w^as  deliberating  on  the  means  of  pre- 
venting the  insurrection.  The  daily  assemblages  occasioned  by 
the  distribution  of  bread  and  the  popular  excitement  had  concealed 
from  it  the  preparations  for  a  great  rising,  and  it  had  taken  no 
steps  to  prevent  it.  The  committees  came  in  all  haste  to  apprise 
it  of  its  danger;  it  immediately  declared  its  sitting  permanent, 
voted  Paris  responsible  for  the  safety  of  the  representatives  of  the 
republic,  closed  its  doors,  outlawed  all  the  leaders  of  the  mob,  sum- 
moned the  citizens  of  the  sections  to  arms,  and  appointed  as  their 
leaders  eight  commissioners,  among  whom  were  Legendre,  Henri 
la  Riviere,  and  Kervelegan.  These  deputies  had  scarcely  gone 
when  a  loud  noise  was  heard  without.  An  outer  door  had  been 
forced,  and  numbers  of  women  rushed  Into  the  galleries,  crying: 
"  Bread  and  the  constitution  of  '93 !  "  The  convention  received 
them  firmly.  "  Your  cries,"  said  the  president,  Vernier,  "  will 
not  alter  our  position ;  they  will  not  accelerate  by  one  moment  the 
arrival  of  supplies.  They  w^ll  only  serve  to  hinder  it."  A  fearful 
tumult  drowned  the  voice  of  the  president  and  interrupted  the  pro- 
ceedings. The  galleries  were  then  cleared ;  but  the  insurgents  of  the 
faubourgs  soon  reached  the  inner  doors,  and  finding  them  closed, 
forced  them  with  hatchets  and  hammers,  and  then  rushed  in  amid 
the  convention. 

The  hall  now  became  a  field  of  battle.  The  veterans  and 
gendarmes,  to  whom  the  guard  of  the  assembly  was  confided, 
cried  "  To  arms ! "  The  deputy  Auguis,  sword  in  hand,  headed 
them,  and  succeeding  in  repelling  the  assailants,  and  even  made  a 

■^  The  brothers  Claude  and  Ignace  Chappe,  born  1763  and  1760,  both 
mechanical  engineers,  were  the  creators  of  the  semaphore  system  of  telegraphs. 
The  scheme  was  presented  to  the  legislative  assembly  March  2,  1792 ;  on  April  4, 
1793,  the  convention  voted  a  sum  of  money  for  experiments,  and  on  August  4 
ordered  the  establishment  of  a  line  from  Paris  to  Lille. — Fletcher's  Carlyle, 
"  French  Revolution,"  iii.  p.  161,  note  i. 


1795 


THERE  ACTION  337 


few  of  them  prisoners.  But  the  insurgents,  more  numerous,  re- 
turned to  the  charg-e  and  again  rushed  into  the  house.  The 
deputy  Feraud  entered  precipitately,  pursued  by  the  insurgents, 
who  fired  some  shots  in  the  house.  They  took  aim  at  Boissy 
d'Anglas,  who  was  occupying  the  president's  chair,  in  place  of 
Vernier.  Feraud  ran  to  the  tribune,  to  shield  him  with  his  body; 
he  was  struck  at  with  i)ikes  and  sabers,  and  fell  dangerously 
wounded.  The  insurgents  dragged  him  into  the  lobby,  and,  mis- 
taking him  for  Freron,  cut  ofif  his  head  and  placed  it  on  a  pike. 

After  this  skirmish  they  became  masters  of  the  hall.  Most 
of  the  deputies  had  taken  flight.  There  remained  only  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Crete  and  Boissy  d'Anglas,  who,  calm,  his  hat  on.  heed- 
less of  threat  and  insult,  protested  in  the  name  of  the  convention 
against  this  popular  violence.  They  held  out  to  him  the  bleeding 
head  of  Feraud ;  he  bowed  respectfully  before  it.  They  tried  to 
force  him,  by  placing  pikes  at  his  breast,  to  put  the  propositions  of 
the  insurgents  to  the  vote;  he  steadily  and  courageously  refused. 
But  the  Cretois,  who  approved  of  the  insurrection,  took  possession 
of  the  bureau  '^  and  of  the  tribune,  and  decreed,  amid  the  applause 
of  the  multitude,  all  the  articles  contained  in  the  manifesto  of  the 
insurrection.  The  deputy  Romme  became  their  organ.  They 
further  appointed  an  executive  commission,  composed  of  Bour- 
botte  Duroy,  Duquesnoy,  Prieur  de  la  Marne,  and  a  general-in- 
chief  of  the  armed  force,  the  deputy  S(nibrany.  In  this  way  they 
prepared  for  the  return  of  their  domination.  They  decreed  the 
recall  of  their  imprisoned  colleagues,  the  dismissal  of  their  enemies, 
a  democratic  constitution,  the  recstablishment  of  the  Jacobin  Club. 
But  it  was  not  enough  for  them  to  ha\"e  usurped  the  assembly  for  a 
short  time;  it  was  necessary  to  conf|uer  the  sections,  for  it  was 
only  with  these  they  could  really  contend  there. 

The  commissioners  dispatched  to  the  sections  had  quickly 
gathered  them  together.  The  battalions  of  the  Butte  des  Moulins, 
Lepelletier,  des  Piques,  de  la  Fontaine-Grenelle,  who  were  the  near- 
est, soon  occupied  the  Carrousel  and  its  principal  avenues.     The 

^  The  bureau  was  the  clerical  staff  of  the  convention  while  in  session.  It 
was  the  duty  of  these  officials  to  keep  a  record  of  the  proceedings,  covmt  votes, 
receive  notices  of  motion,  propo-^ed  laws,  etc.  l"or  in  hVance  then — and  now — 
the  deputies  speak  from  a  platform — the  trihune— and  each  memher  wishint!j 
to  speak  sent  his  name  to  the  bureau.  The  otTicial-  of  the  bureau  thus  rouLjhly 
correspond  to  the  clerks  of  the  llousr  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate,  with 
the  difference  that  they  are  actual  members  of  the  Ikjusc,  also. 


338  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

aspect  of  affairs  then  underwent  a  change :  Legendre,  Kervelegan, 
and  Aiiguis  besieged  the  insurgents,  in  their  turn,  at  the  head  of  the 
sectionaries.  At  first  they  experienced  some  resistance.  But  with 
fixed  bayonets  they  soon  entered  the  hall,  where  the  conspirators 
were  still  deliberating,  and  Legendre  cried  out :  "  In  the  name  of 
the  law,  I  order  armed  citizens  to  withdraw."  They  hesitated  a 
moment,  but  the  arrival  of  the  battalions,  now  entering  at  every 
door,  intimidated  them,  and  they  hastened  from  the  hall  in  all  the 
disorder  of  flight.  The  assembly  again  became  complete;  the 
sections  received  a  vote  of  thanks,  and  the  deliberations  were  re- 
sumed. All  the  measures  adopted  in  the  interim  were  annulled, 
and  fourteen  representatives,  to  whom  were  afterward  joined  four- 
teen others,  were  arrested  for  organizing  the  insurrection,  or 
approving  it  in  their  speeches.  It  was  then  midnight;  at  five  in 
the  morning  the  prisoners  were  already  six  leagues  from  Paris. 
Ten  thousand  arrests  were  made. 

Despite  this  defeat  the  faubourgs  did  not  consider  them- 
selves beaten ;  and  the  next  day  they  advanced  en  masse  with  their 
cannon  against  the  convention.  The  sections,  on  their  side, 
marched  for  its  defense.  The  two  parties  were  on  the  point  of 
engaging;  the  cannons  of  the  faubourg,  which  were  mounted  on 
the  Place  du  Carrousel,  were  directed  toward  the  chateau,  when 
the  assembly  sent  commissioners  to  the  insurgents.  Negotiations 
were  begun.  A  deputy  of  the  faubourgs,  admitted  to  the  con- 
vention, first  repeated  the  demand  made  the  preceding  day,  adding: 
"  We  are  resolved  to  die  at  the  post  we  now  occupy,  rather  than 
abate  our  present  demands.  I  fear  nothing!  My  name  is  Saint- 
Leger.  Vive  la  repuhlique!  Vive  la  convention!  if  it  is  attached 
to  principles,  as  I  believe  it  to  be."  The  deputy  was  favorably 
received,  and  they  came  to  friendly  terms  with  the  faubourgs, 
without,  however,  granting  them  anything  positive.  The  latter 
having  no  longer  a  general  council  of  the  commune  to  support  their 
resolutions,  nor  a  commander  like  Henriot  to  keep  them  under 
arms  till  their  propositions  were  decreed,  went  no  further.  They 
retired  after  having  received  an  assurance  that  the  convention 
would  assiduously  attend  to  the  question  of  provisions,  and  would 
soon  publish  the  organic  laws  of  the  constitution  of  '93.  That 
day  showed  that  immense  physical  force  and  a  decided  object  are 
not  the  only  things  essential  to  secure  success ;  leaders  and  an  au- 
thority to  support  and  direct  the  insurrection  are  also  necessary. 


T  H  E     R  E  A  C  T  T  O  N  339 

1795 

The  convention  was  the  only  remaining  legal  power:  the  party 
which  it  held  in  favor  triumphed. 

Six  democratic  Alountaineers,  Goujon.  Bourhotte,  Romme, 
Duroy,  Duquesnoy,  and  Sonhrany,  were  brought  before  a  military 
commission.  They  behaved  firmly,  like  men  fanatically  devoted 
to  their  cause,  and  almost  all  free  from  excesses.  The  Prairial 
movement  was  the  only  thing  against  them ;  but  that  was  sufficient 
in  times  of  party  strife,  and  they  were  condemned  to  death.  They 
all  stabbed  themselves  with  the  same  knife,  which  was  transferred 
from  one  to  the  other,  exclaiming,  "  Vive  la  rcpuhlique! " 
Romme,  Goujon,  and  Duquesnoy  were  fortunate  enough  to 
wound  themselves  fatally ;  Duroy  and  Bourbotte  went  to  the  scaf- 
fold, June  17,  1795. 

Meantime,  the  faulxourgs,  though  repelled  on  the  ist,  and 
diverted  from  their  object  on  the  2d  of  Prairial,  still  had  the 
means  of  rising.  An  event  of  much  less  importance  than  the  pre- 
ceding riots  occasioned  their  final  ruin.  The  murderer  of  Feraud 
was  discovered,  condemned,  and  on  the  4th,  the  day  of  his  execu- 
tion, a  mob  succeeded  in  rescuing  him.  There  was  a  general  outcry 
against  this  attempt,  and  the  convention  ordered  the  faubourgs 
to  be  disarmed.  They  were  encompassed  by  all  the  interior  sec- 
tions. After  attempting  to  resist  they  yielded,  giving  up  some 
of  their  leaders,  their  arms,  and  artillery.  The  democratic  party 
had  lost  its  chiefs,  its  clubs,  and  its  authorities ;  it  had  nothing  left 
but  an  armed  force,  which  rendered  it  still  formidable,  and  insti- 
tutions by  means  of  whicli  it  might  yet  regain  everything.  After 
the  last  check  the  inferior  class  was  entirely  excluded  from  the 
government  of  the  state,  the  revolutionary  committees  which 
formed  its  assembh'es  were  destroyed;  tlie  cannoneers  forming 
its  armed  force  were  disarmed;  the  constitution  of  '93,  which  was 
its  code,  was  abolished ;  and  here  the  rule  of  the  multitude 
terminated. 

From  the  9th  Thermidor  to  the  rst  I'rairial  the  ^Mountaineer 
was  treated  as  the  Girondist  party  liad  been  treated  from  June  2 
to  the  9th  Thermidor.  Seventy-six  of  its  members  were  sentenced 
to  death  or  arrest.  In  its  turn  it  underwent  the  destiny  it  had 
imposed  on  tlie  other;  for  in  times  wlicn  tlie  i)assions  are  called 
into  play,  parties  know  not  how  to  come  to  terms,  and  seek  only  to 
conquer.  Like  the  ( liron(h'sts.  tlicy  resurled  to  insurrection,  in 
order  to    regain    the   ])ower    wliich    tliey   !i;ul    lost:   and    like   them, 


340  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

they  fell.  Vergniaud,  Brissot,  Guadet,  were  tried  by  a  revolu- 
tionary tribunal;  Bourbotte,  Duroy,  Soubrany,  Romme,  Goujon, 
Duquesnoy,  by  a  military  commission.  They  all  died  with  the 
same  courage :  which  shows  that  all  parties  are  the  same,  and  are 
guided  by  the  same  maxims,  or,  if  you  please,  by  the  same  necessi- 
ties. From  that  period  the  middle  class  resumed  the  manage- 
ment of  the  revolution  without,  and  the  assembly  was  as  united 
under  the  Girondists  as  it  had  been,  after  June  2,  under  the 
Mountaineers. 


Chapter   XIII 

THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION 
MAY  20-OCTOBER  26,   1795 

THE  exterior  prosperity  of  the  revolution  chiefly  con- 
tributed to  the  fall  of  the  dictatorial  government  and  of 
the  Jacobin  party.  The  increasing-  victories  of  the  re- 
public to  which  they  had  very  greatly  contributed  by  their  vigorous 
measures,  and  by  their  enthusiasm,  rendered  their  power  super- 
fluous. The  committee  of  public  safety,  by  crushing  with  its 
strong  and  formidable  hand  the  interior  of  France,  had  developed 
resources,  organized  armies,  found  generals,  and  commanded  vic- 
tories which  ultimately  secured  the  triumph  of  the  revolution  with 
respect  to  Europe.  A  prosperous  positi(Mi  no  longer  required  the 
same  efforts;  its  mission  was  accomplished,  the  peculiar  province 
of  such  a  dictatorship  being  to  save  a  country'  and  a  cause,  and  to 
perish  by  the  very  safety  it  had  secured.  Internal  events  ha\c 
prevented  our  rapidly  describing  the  impulse  which  the  committee 
of  public  safety  gave  to  the  armies  after  May  31,  and  the  results 
which  it  obtained  from  it. 

The  levy  en  masse  that  took  place  in  the  summer  of  1793 
formed  the  troops  of  the  ^Mountain.  The  leaders  of  that  party 
soon  selected  from  the  secondary  ranks  Mountaineer  generals  to 
replace  the  Girondist  generals.  Those  generals  were  Jourdan. 
Pichegru.  Hoche.  Aloreau.  W'estermann.  Dugommier,  Marceau. 
Joubert,  and  Kleber.  Carnot.  by  his  admission  to  the  committee 
of  public  safetv,  became  minister  of  war  and  major  general  of  all 
the  republican  armies.  Instead  of  scattered  bodies,  acting  without 
concert  upon  isolated  points,  he  proceeded  with  strong  masses, 
concentrated  on  one  object.  He  commenced  the  practice  of  a 
great  plan  of  warfare,  which  he  tried  with  decided  success  at 
W'attignies,  in  his  capacity  of  commissioner  of  the  convention. 
This  important  victorv,  at  which  he  assisted  in  person,  drove  the 
allied  generals.  Clairfait  and  the  Prince  of  Coburg,  behind  the 
Sambre   and  raised  the  siege  of  Maulicuge.      During  the  winter  of 

3U 


342  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

1793  and  1794  the  two  armies  continued  in  presence  of  each  other 
without  undertaking-  anything. 

The  revolution  had  disorganized  the  army.  The  national 
assembly  had  suppressed  the  provincial  militia.  The  army  of  the 
line  had  been  depleted  by  desertions,  by  the  emigration  of  the 
officers,  and  was  ill-disciplined  and  mutinous.  The  military  re- 
forms included  the  suppression  of  the  old  militia  and  the  dismissal 
of  the  troops  of  the  Maison  du  Roi,  together  with  those  of  the 
foreign  regiments.  The  plan  of  reorganization  included  ( i )  an 
active  army  of  150,000  men  voluntarily  enlisted  for  four  years; 
(2)  a  reserve  army  of  100,000;  (3)  a  national  guard  composed  of 
all  active  citizens  between  eighteen  and  fifty  years  of  age.  The 
regiments  ceased  to  be  designated  after  the  old  form,  but  were 
known  by  numbers.  New  measures,  such  as  fixed  rules  for  pro- 
motion, the  abolition  of  merely  nominal  posts  of  command,  the 
establishment  of  courts-martial  with  a  jury,  and  the  adoption  of 
a  new  military  code,  entirely  reorganized  the  army. 

At  the  first  threat  of  war  the  national  assembly  had  had  the 
thought  of  using  the  national  guard.  In  June,  1791,  the  assembly 
ordered  a  volunteer  enrollment  of  men  of  twenty-one  or  over  in 
each  department;  on  August  17  it  called  for  101,000  volunteers — 
the  "  Volunteers  of  '91."  They  were  formed  into  battalions.  The 
officers  were  elected  by  popular  vote  of  the  soldiers,  and  among 
the  first  are  to  be  found  Davout,  Kleber,  Hoche,  ^Massena,  and 
Marceau.  The  volunteers  of  1792  were  similarly  called,  and  organ- 
ized in  battalions  of  federes,  but  did  not  make  as  good  soldiers  as 
those  of  '91,  who  had  become  a  disciplined  and  hardened  soldiery. 
This  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  there  were  yet  enough  of  the 
trained  officers  of  the  ancient  regime  to  leaven  the  mass.  Under- 
officers  of  the  old  line  filled  the  places  vacated  by  their  superiors 
and  trained  the  raw  recruits.  The  French  artillery  was  the  best  in 
Europe.  The  first  volunteers  were  superior  to  the  second  group. 
But  all  alike  were  filled  with  a  magnificent  patriotism.  The  "  Mar- 
seillaise " — to-day  the  national  song  of  France — was  the  expressir)n 
of  popular  feeling  at  this  time. 

The  great  losses  of  the  summer  of  1793  had  brought  matters  to 
a  crisis  in  the  army.  The  levy  of  300,000  had  not  been  effective. 
There  was  not  enough  cohesion  between  the  old  and  the  new 
troops.  There  was  a  new  emigration  of  officers,  of  moderate 
royalist  sentiments,  after  the  execution  of  the  king,  and  the  army 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  343 

1795 

became  disorganized.  Moreover,  there  was  friction  between  the 
generals  and  the  administration.  Tliey  were  spied  upon,  their 
orders  changed,  deposed,  imprisoned,  by  the  deputies  on  mission, 
to  such  an  extent  that  a  place  of  high  command  became  almost 
equivalent  to  a  death-warrant. 

Evidently  great  modifications  must  be  made  or  the  army 
would  dissolve  in  anarchy.  "  Amalgamation  "  became  the  new 
order  of  the  day.  On  June  19,  1793,  the  convention  ordered  the 
consolidation  of  all  the  heterogeneous  elements — regiments  of  the 
ancient  service,  volunteers  of  '91,  federes  of  '92.  One  battalion 
of  infantry  of  the  line  was  combined  with  two  battalions  of  volun- 
teers to  form  a  demi-brigade ;  there  were  ninety-six  such  regi- 
ments. The  cavalry  were  organized  in  a  similar  way,  by  regiments 
and  squadrons.  Eight  regiments  of  mounted  artillery  were  cre- 
ated. Two  brigades  formed  a  division,  an  army  corps  of  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  thousand  men,  composed  of  twelve  battalions, 
eight  squadrons,  and  a  battery  of  six  to  ei^ht  cannon.  These 
changes  made  the  great  levy  en  masse  of  August  23,  1793,  a 
success.  It  created  the  army  capable  of  the  victories  of  1793- 1794. 
In  June,  1793,  the  effective  army  was  477,000  men;  in  December 
it  was  628,000,  and  in  1794  over  a  million,  of  whom  750,000  were 
actually  facing  the  enemy! 

Simultaneously  with  the  new  composition  of  tlie  armies  a  new 
sort  of  tactics  was  introduced.  Caniot  recommended  the  com- 
manders-in-chief to  direct  the  hottest  fire  at  one  point  and  break  the 
enemies'  lines  in  two.  This  new  policy  of  concentrating  fire  be- 
came the  basis  of  Napoleon's  victories.  At  the  same  time,  the  sol- 
diers were  allowed  more  freedom  than  under  the  iron  regime  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  and  individual  effort  came  to  count  for  more. 
Fired  bv  a  vivid  patriotism,  the  offensive  movements  of  the  h>ench 
became  irresistible.  In  storming  intrenchments  or  battery-posi- 
tions, as  at  W'oertli  in  December,  1793,  the  bayonet  became  a  ter- 
ribly effective  weapon. 

'  Moreover,  a  new  generation  of  field  officers  was  coming  up — 
of  men  capable  of  commanding,  loving  tlieir  troops  and  loved  by 
them.  The  barrier  of  caste  between  i)rivate  and  superior  vanished 
wath  the  revolution.  Tlie  generals  who  commanded  in  1792,  La- 
favette,  Luckner.  Rochambcan,  had  disappeared  from  the  scene. 
Those  who  supplanted  them,  like  Dumouricz.  Custine.  :\rontes- 
quiou,  Avere  little  better,   for  they,  too,  had  been  schooled   in   the 


344 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1795 


Seven  Years'  War  or  under  the  ancient  regime.  Finally  came  the 
genuine  sons  of  Mars — the  generation  of  1792,  composed  first  of 
subordinate  officers  raised  to  rank,  like  Kleber,  Kellermann, 
Scherer;  then  the  young  graduates  of  military  schools,  like  Bona- 
parte, Davout,  Desaix,  Clarke,  Macdonald,  Grouchy,  Marmont ; 
finally,  new  recruits  who  had  risen  by  sheer  merit,  such  as  Lazare 
Hoche,  son  of  a  soldier,  born  at  Versailles,  a  stable-boy  getting 
the  rudiments  of  education  from  the  cure,  working  after  hours  to 
earn  the  wherewithal  to  purchase  books ;  a  volunteer  in  the  national 
guard,  a  volunteer  of  '92,  he  fought  in  the  army  of  the  Ardennes 


and  in  Belgium,  when  he  became  aide-de-camp  of  General  Veneur, 
who  recommended  his  promotion  for  merit  at  the  siege  of  Dunkirk. 
Tn  October,  1793,  he  was  put  in  command  of  the  army  of  the 
^Moselle.  He  saved  Alsace,  but  was  unjustly  cashiered — and  im- 
prisoned in  April,  1794,  by  Saint-Just,  then  deputy  on  mission  to 
the  army,  for  not  taking  Treves ;  he  was  released  after  Thermidor. 
At  the  opening  of  the  campaign  of  1793- 1794  each  side  con- 
ceived a  plan  of  invasion.  The  Austrian  army  advanced  upon  the 
towns  on  the  Somme,  Peronne,  Saint-Ouentin,  Arras,  and  threat- 
ened Paris,  wliile  the  French  army  again  projected  the  conquest  of 
Belgium.      The  plan  of  the  committee  of  public  safety  was  com- 


1795 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  345 


bined  in  a  very  different  way  to  the  vague  design  of  the  coalition. 
Pichegru,  at  the  head  of  50,000  men  of  the  army  of  the  north, 
entered  Flanders,  resting  on  the  sea  and  the  Scheldt.  On  his  right, 
Morean  advanced  with  20,000  men  upon  Menin  and  Courtray. 
General  Souham,  with  30,000  men,  remained  under  Lille  to  sustain 
the  extreme  right  of  the  invading  army  against  the  Austrians; 
while  Jourdan,  with  the  army  of  the  Moselle,  directed  his  course 
toward  Charleroi  by  Arlon  and  Dinant,  to  join  the  army  of  the 
north. 

The  Austrians,  attacked  in  Flanders  and  threatened  with  a 
surprise  in  the  rear  by  Jourdan,  soon  abandoned  their  positions  on 
the  Somme.  Clairfait  and  the  Duke  of  York  allowed  themselves 
to  be  beaten  at  Courtray  and  Hooghlede  by  the  army  of  Pichegru ; 
Coburg  at  Fleurus  by  that  of  Jourdan,  who  had  just  taken  Char- 
leroi. The  two  victorious  generals  rapidly  completed  the  invasion 
of  the  Netherlands.  The  Anglo-Dutch  army  fell  back  on  Antwerp, 
and  thence  upon  Breda,  and  from  Breda  to  Bois-le-Duc,  receiv- 
ing continual  checks.  It  crossed  the  Waal  and  fell  back  upon 
Holland.  The  Austrians  endeavored,  with  the  same  want  of  suc- 
cess, to  cover  Brussels  and  Maestricht;  they  were  pursued  and 
beaten  by  the  army  of  Jourdan,  which  since  its  union  had  taken  the 
name  of  the  army  of  the  Sambre-et-Meuse,  and  which  did  not  leave 
them  behind  the  Roer,  as  Dumouriez  had  done,  but  drove  them 
beyond  the  Rhine.  Jourdan  made  himself  master  of  Cologne  and 
Bonn,  and  communicated  by  his  left  with  the  right  of  the  army  of 
the  ^vloselle,  which  had  advanced  into  the  country  of  Luxemburg, 
and  which,  conjointly  with  him,  occupied  Coblentz.  A  general 
and  concerted  movement  of  all  the  French  armies  had  taken  place, 
all  of  them  marching  toward  the  Rhenish  frontier.  At  the  time  of 
the  defeats  the  lines  of  Weissenburg  had  been  forced.  The  com- 
mittee of  public  safety  employed  in  the  army  of  the  Rhine  the 
expeditious  measures  peculiar  to  its  policy.  The  commissioners, 
Saint-Just  and  Lebas.  gave  the  chief  command  to  Hoche.  made 
terror  and  victory  the  order  of  the  day;  and  Generals  Brunswick 
and  Wurmser  were  very  s(X)n  driven  from  Hagucnau  on  the  lines 
of  the  Lauter,  and  not  being  a1)1e  even  to  maintain  that  position, 
passed  the  Rliine  at  Pliilipsburg.  Spire  and  Worms  were  retaken. 
Hoche  was  deprived  of  his  command  by  Saint-Just  on  April  8. 
1794,  under  orders  from  Carnot,  who  was  angered  because  of  his 
not  endeavoring  to  take  Treves.     He  was  imprisoned  and  not  re- 


346  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

leased  until  after  9tli  Thermidor.  The  republican  troops,  every- 
where victorious,  occupied  Belgium,  that  part  of  Holland  situated 
on  the  left  of  the  Meuse,  and  all  the  towns  on  the  Rhine,  except 
Mayence  and  Mannheim,  which  were  closely  beset. 

The  army  of  the  Alps  did  not  make  much  progress  in  this 
campaign.  It  tried  to  invade  Piedmont,  but  failed.  On  the  Span- 
ish frontier  the  war  had  commenced  under  ill  auspices;  the  two 
armies  of  the  eastern  and  western  Pyrenees,  few  in  number  and 
badly  disciplined,  were  constantly  beaten ;  one  had  retired  under 
Perpignan,  the  other  under  Bayonne.  The  committee  of  public 
safety  turned  its  attention  and  efforts  but  tardily  on  this  point, 
which  was  not  the  most  dangerous  for  it.  But  as  soon  as  it  had 
introduced  its  system,  generals,  and  organization  into  the  two 
armies,  the  appearance  of  things  changed.  Dugommier,  after  re- 
peated successes,  drove  the  Spaniards  from  the  French  territory 
and  entered  the  peninsula  by  Catalonia.  Moncey  also  invaded  it 
by  the  valley  of  Bastan,  the  other  opening  of  the  Pyrenees,  and 
became  master  of  Saint  Sebastian  and  Fontarabia.  The  coalition 
was  everywhere  conquered,  and  some  of  the  allied  powers  began 
to  repent  of  their  too  confiding  adhesion. 

In  the  meantime  news  of  the  revolution  of  the  9th  Thermidor 
reached  the  armies.  They  were  entirely  republican,  and  they  feared 
that  Robespierre's  fall  would  lead  to  that  of  the  popular  govern- 
ment; and  they,  accordingly,  received  this  intelligence  with  marked 
disapprobation;  but  as  the  armies  were  submissive  to  the  civil 
authority,  none  of  them  rebelled.  The  insurrections  of  the  army 
only  took  place  from  July  14  to  May  31 ;  because,  being  the  refuge 
of  the  conquered  parties,  their  leaders  had  at  every  crisis  the  ad- 
vantage of  political  precedence,  and  contended  with  all  the  ardor 
of  compromised  factions.  Under  the  committee  of  public  safety, 
on  the  contrary,  the  most  renowned  generals  had  no  political  influ- 
ence, and  were  subject  to  the  terrible  discipline  of  parties.  While 
occasionally  thwarting  the  generals,  the  convention  had  no  difficulty 
in  keeping  tlie  armies  in  obedience. 

A  short  time  afterward  the  movement  of  invasion  was  pro- 
longed in  Holland  and  in  the  Spanish  peninsula.  The  United  Prov- 
inces were  attacked  in  the  middle  of  winter,  and  on  several  sides, 
by  Pichegru,  who  summoned  the  Batavian  patriots  to  liberty.  The 
party  opposed  to  the  stadtholderate  seconded  the  victorious  efforts 
of  the  French  army,  and  the  revolution  and  conquest  took  place 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  347 

1795 

simultaneously  at  Leyden,  Amsterdam,  The  Hague,  and  Utrecht. 
The  stadtholder  took  refuge  in  England;  his  authority  was  abol- 
ished, and  the  assembly  of  the  states-general  proclaimed  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  people  and  constituted  the  Batavian  republic,  which 
formed  a  close  alliance  with  France,  to  which  it  ceded,  by  the  Treaty 
of  Paris,  of  May  i6,  1795.  Dutch  Flanders,  Maestricht,  Venloo, 
and  their  dependencies.  The  navigation  of  the  Rhine,  the  Scheldt, 
and  the  Meuse  was  left  free  to  both  nations.  Holland  by  its  wealth 
powerfully  contributed  toward  the  continuance  of  the  war  against 
the  coalition.  This  important  conquest  at  the  same  time  deprived  the 
English  of  a  powerful  support,  and  compelled  Prussia,  threatened 
on  the  Rhine  and  by  Holland,  to  conclude  at  Basel  w  ith  the  French 
republic  a  peace  for  which  its  reverses  and  the  affairs  of  Poland 
had  long  rendered  it  disposed.^ 

The  fact  of  having  secured  an  equivalent  in  Poland  for  her 
losses  was  the  decisive  factor  with  Prussia.  The  peace  with 
Prussia  was  signed  April  5,  1795.  The  articles  guaranteed  France 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  so  far  as  Prussia  was  concerned,  but  a 
secret  article  provided  for  future  indemnification  of  Prussia  through 
secularization  of  certain  ecclesiastical  states.  A  neutral  line  run- 
ning due  east  through  Germany  was  marked  out,  the  states  north  of 
it,  as  Saxony  and  Hesse,  being  guaranteed  protection  from  French 
aggrandizement,  since  they  were  regarded  as  under  the  wing  of 
Prussia. 

The  South  German  states  continued  to  adhere  to  Austria 
and  were  marked  for  conquest  by  the  directory.  It  is  interesting  to 
notice  that  patriotic  P'rance.  in  three  years,  had  accomplished  more 
than  all  the  armies  of  Louis  XIV.  What  with  Nice  and  Savoy,  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine  and  Holland,  the  most  extravagant  advocate 
of  "  natural  frontiers  ''  ought  to  have  been  satisfied,  h'iguieres  and 
the  fortress  of  Rosas  had  been  taken,  and  Pcrignon  was  advancing 
into  Catalonia,  while  ]\Ioncey.  after  becoming  master  of  Villa 
Real.  Bilbao,  and  \"ittoria.  marched  against  the  Spaniards,  who 
had  retired  to  the  fnniticrs  of  Old  Castile.  The  cabinet  of  Madrid 
demanded  peace.  Saint  Scbastinn  and  Pontarabia  were  taken  by 
the  French  in  August.  1704.     This  was  followed  l)y  an  invasion  of 

*  Historians  are  divided  in  opinion  as  to  rospon^^ihility  for  the  breach  be- 
tween the  Prussian  antl  the  Austrian  armies  which  took  phacc  at  tin's  time.  Tlie 
eminent  German  In'storian,  Von  Syhel.  champions  the  conduct  of  Pru-^-ia  and 
throws  the  blame  upon  .•\u^tria.  On  the  otlier  hand,  the  .-Xnstrian  lii-tiirians, 
Videnot  and  lluffer,  make  Prussia  rcspon-iblc   for  the  division. 


348  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

the  Basque  provinces,  so  that  Spain  had  no  other  course.  She 
fenced  diplomatically  for  a  long  time,  for  the  sake  of  the  dauphin, 
for  Spanish  honor  regarded  the  Family  Compact  as  sacred.  Final 
settlement  was  made  at  Basel,  July  22,  1795.  It  recognized  the 
French  republic,  who  restored  its  conquests,  and  who  received  in 
exchange  the  portion  of  Saint  Domingo  possessed  by  Spain.  The 
two  disciplined  armies  of  the  Pyrenees  joined  the  army  of  the 
Alps,  which  by  this  means  soon  overran  Piedmont,  and  entered 
Italy — Tuscany  only  having  made  peace  with  the  republic  on  Feb- 
ruary 9,  1795. 

These  partial  pacifications  and  the  reverses  of  the  coalesced 
troops  gave  another  direction  to  the  efforts  of  England  and  the 
emigrant  party.  The  time  had  arrived  for  making  the  interior  of 
France  the  fulcrum  of  the  counter-revolutionary  movement.  In 
1 79 1,  when  unanimity  existed  in  France,  the  royalists  placed  all 
their  hopes  in  foreign  powers;  now  dissensions  at  home  and  the 
defeat  of  their  allies  in  Europe  left  them  no  resource  but  in  con- 
spiracies. Unsuccessful  attempts,  as  we  have  seen,  never  make 
vanquished  parties  despair:  victory  alone  wearies  and  enervates, 
and  sooner  or  later  restores  the  dominion  of  those  who  wait. 

The  events  of  Prairial  and  the  defeat  of  the  Jacobin  party 
had  decided  the  counter-revolutionary  movement.  At  this  period, 
the  reaction,  hitherto  conducted  by  moderate  republicans,  became 
generally  royalist.  The  partisans  of  monarchy  were  still  as  divided 
as  they  had  been  from  the  opening  of  the  states-general  to  August 
10.  In  the  interior,  the  old  constitutionalists,  who  had  their  sittings 
in  the  sections,  and  who  consisted  of  the  wealthy  middle  classes, 
had  not  the  same  views  of  monarchy  with  the  absolute  royalists. 
They  still  felt  the  rivalry  and  opposition  of  interest  natural  to  the 
middle  against  the  privileged  classes.  The  absolute  royalists  them- 
selves did  not  agree ;  the  party  beaten  in  the  interior  had  little 
sympathy  with  that  enrolled  among  the  armies  of  Europe ;  but 
besides  the  divisions  between  the  emigrants  and  Vendeans,  dissen- 
sions had  arisen  among  the  emigrants  from  the  date  of  their 
departure  from  France.  Meantime,  all  these  royalists  of  different 
opinions,  not  having  yet  to  contend  for  the  reward  of  victory,  came 
to  an  agreement  to  attack  the  convention  in  common.  The  emi- 
grants and  the  priests,  who  for  some  months  past  had  returned  in 
great  numbers,  took  the  banner  of  the  sections,  quite  certain,  if  they 
carried  the  day  bv  means  of  the  middle  class,  to  establish  their  own 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CON'VENTION  349 

1795 

government;  for  they  had  a  leader,  and  a  definite  object,  which 
the  sectionaries  had  not. 

This  reaction,  of  a  new  character,  was  restrained  for  some  time 
in  Paris,  where  the  convention,  a  strong  and  neutral  power,  wished 
to  prevent  the  violence  and  usurpation  of  both  parties.  While  over- 
throwing the  sway  of  the  Jacobins,  it  suppressed  the  vengeance  of 
the  royalists.  Then  it  was  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Jeunesse 
Doree  deserted  its  cause,  that  the  leaders  of  the  sections  prepared  the 
bourgeoisie  to  oppose  the  assembly,  and  that  the  confederation  of 
the  journalists  succeeded  that  of  the  Jacobins.  La  Harpe,  Richer, 
de  Serizy,  Poncelin,  Trongon  du  Condray,  and  Marchena  became 
the  organs  of  this  new  opinion,  and  were  the  literary  clubists.  The 
active  but  irregular  troops  of  this  party  assembled  at  the  Theatre 
Feydeau,  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens,  and  the  Palais  Royal,  and 
began  the  chase  of  the  Jacobins,  while  they  sang  the  ''  Rcvcil  du 
Pcuple."  The  word  of  proscription  at  that  time  was  terrorist,  in 
virtue  of  which  an  honest  man  might  all  conscientiously  attack  a 
revolutionist.  The  terrorist  class  was  extended  at  the  will  or  the 
passions  of  the  new  reactors,  who  wore  their  hair  a  la  viciimc,  and 
who,  no  longer  fearing  to  avow  their  intentions,  for  some  time  past 
had  adopted  the  Chouan  uniform — a  gray  turned-back  coat  with  a 
green  or  black  collar. 

But  this  reaction  was  much  more  ardent  in  the  departments, 
where  there  was  no  authority  to  interpose  in  the  prevention  of 
bloodshed.  Here  there  were  only  two  parties,  that  which  had 
dominated  and  that  which  had  suffered  under  the  Mountain.  The 
intermediate  class  was  alternately  governed  by  the  royalists  and 
by  the  democrats.  The  latter,  foreseeing  the  terrible  reprisals  to 
which  they  would  be  subject  if  they  fell,  held  out  as  long  as  they 
could;  but  their  defeat  at  Paris  led  to  their  downfall  in  the  depart- 
ments. Party  executions  then  took  place,  similar  to  those  of  the 
proconsuls  of  the  committee  of  public  safety.  The  south  was. 
more  especially,  a  prey  to  wholesale  massacres  and  acts  of  personal 
vengeance.  Nearly  alf  tlie  South  had  its  September  2.  The  power  in 
the  convention  had  sliiftcd  from  the  Left  to  the  Right,  but  the 
Thermidorians,  the  moderates,  and  the  Girondists,  who  dominated 
in  the  convention,  now  perceived  that  from  being  threatened  by 
revolutionists,  they  were  now  threatened  by  counter-revolutionists. 
After  the  9th  Thermidor  there  had  been  a  large  inilux  of  the 
emigrants  into  France.     The  royalists  again  became  a  force  in  the 


350  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

country.  In  the  west  of  France  bands  of  royalist  brigands  ap- 
peared, who  called  themselves  chauffeurs.  The  Companies  of  Jehu 
and  of  the  Sun  infested  the  public  roads,  robbed  travelers  and  mer- 
chants, and  even  pillaged  whole  towns.  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Aix, 
and  Tarascon  were  even  entered  by  them.-  At  Lyons,  after  the 
first  revolutionary  massacres,  the  members  of  the  companies  hunted 
out  those  who  had  not  been  taken ;  and  when  they  met  one,  without 
any  other  form  than  the  exclamation,  "There's  a  Matavon  "  (the 
name  given  to  them),  they  slew  and  threw  him  into  the  Rhone. 
At  Tarascon,  they  threw  them  from  the  top  of  the  tower  on  a  rock 
on  the  bank  of  the  Rhone.  During  this  new  reign  of  terror  and 
this  general  defeat  of  the  revolutionists  England  and  the  emigrants 
attempted  the  daring  enterprise  of  Quiberon. 

The  Vendeans  were  exhausted  by  their  repeated  defeats,  but 
they  were  not  wholly  reduced.  Their  losses,  however,  and  the 
divisions  between  their  principal  leaders,  Charette  and  Stofiflet,  ren- 
dered them  an  extremely  feeble  succor.  Charette  had  even  con- 
sented to  treat  with  the  republic,  and  a  sort  of  pacification  had  been 
concluded  between  him  and  the  convention  at  Jusnay.  The  Mar- 
quis de  Puisaye,  an  enterprising  man,  but  volatile  and  more  capable 
of  intrigue  than  of  vigorous  party  conceptions,  intended  to  replace 
the  almost  expiring  insurrection  of  La  Vendee  by  that  of  Brittany. 
Since  the  enterprise  of  Wimpfen,  in  which  Puisaye  had  a  com- 
mand, there  already  existed,  in  Calvados  and  Morbihan,  bands  of 
Chouans,  composed  of  the  remains  of  parties,  adventurers,  men 
without  employment,  and  daring  smugglers,  who  made  expeditions, 
but  were  unable  to  keep  the  field  like  the  Vendeans.  Puisaye  had 
recourse  to  England  to  extend  the  Chouanerie,  leading  it  to  hope 
for  a  general  rising  in  Brittany,  and  thence  in  the  rest  of  France, 
if  it  would  land  the  nucleus  of  an  army,  with  ammunition  and 
guns. 

The  ministry  of  Great  Britain,  deceived  as  to  the  coalition, 
desired  nothing  better  than  to  expose  the  republic  to  fresh  perils, 
while  it  sought  to  revive  the  courage  of  Europe.  It  confided  in 
Puisaye,  and  in  the  spring  of  1795  prepared  an  expedition,  in  which 
the  most  energetic  emigrants  took  a  share,  nearly  all  the  officers 
of  the  former  navy,  and  all  who,  wearv  of  the  part  of  exiles  and  of 

-  ]\Iahan,  "  Influence  of  Sea-Power  upon  the  French  Revohition,"  vol.  I. 
175  ff-,  is  good  upon  tliis  "  White  Terror."  The  reaction  in  the  southern  main- 
land was  watched  with  deep  concern  from  the  decks  of  English  vessels. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  351 

1795 

the  distresses  of  a  life  of  wandering,  wished  to  try  their  fortune 
for  the  last  time. 

The  English  fleet  landed  on  the  peninsula  of  Quiberon.  1500 
emigrants,  6000  republican  prisoners  who  had  embraced  the  cause 
of  the  emigrants  to  return  to  France.  60,000  muskets,  and  the 
full  equipment  for  an  army  of  40,000  men.  Fifteen  hundred 
Chouans  joined  the  army  on  its  landing,  and  it  was  soon  attacked 
by  General  Hoche.  His  attack  pro\'ed  successful ;  the  republican 
prisoners  who  were  in  the  ranks  deserted,  and  it  was  defeated  after 
a  most  energetic  resistance.  In  the  mortal  warfare  between  the 
emigrants  and  the-  republic,  the  vanquished,  being  considered  as 
outlaws,  were  mercilessly  massacred.  Their  loss  inflicted  a  deep 
and  incurable  wound  on  the  emigrant  party.  Hoche  conrpiered  La 
Vendee  by  a  systematic  "  rounding-up  "  of  the  p()])ulation  and  com- 
plete disarmament.  This  success  had  been  followed  by  that  at  Qui- 
beron, June  2y,  i795-  Tallien,  who  was  deputy  on  mission  in  his 
army,  forced  him.  much  against  his  will,  to  shoot  690  of  the  royal- 
ists and  Vendeans.  at  Arglos.  Having  had  hard  experience  of 
deputies  on  mission,  he  complied.  This  royalist  reaction,  combined 
with  the  death  of  the  daupliin,  in  the  same  month,  on  June  10, 
ruined  the  faintest  hopes  of  a  monarchical  constitution.'' 

The  hopes  founded  on  the  victories  of  Europe,  on  the  prog- 
ress of  insurrection  and  the  attempt  of  the  emigrants,  being  thus 
overthrown,  recourse  was  had  to  the  discontented  sections.  It  was 
hoped  to  make  a  counter-revolution  by  means  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion decreed  by  the  convention  on  August  .22.  1795.  The  consti- 
tution was,  indeed,  the  work  of  the  moderate  republican  ])arty;  but 
as  it  restored  the  ascendency  of  the  middle  class,  the  nn-alist  leaders 
thought  that  by  it  they  might  easily  enter  the  legislative  body  and 
the  government. 

This  constitution  was  the  best,  the  wisest,  the  most  liberal, 
and  the  most  provident  that  had  as  yet  been  established  or 
projected :  it  contained  the  result  of  six  years'  revolutionary  and 
legislative  experience.  At  this  period  tlie  convention  felt  the  neces- 
sity of  organizing  power,  and  of  rendering  the  pco])1e  settled,  while 
the  flrst  assembly,  from  its  position,  felt  c^ily  the  necessity  of  weak- 
ening royalty  and  agitating  the  nation.  All  had  been  exhausted, 
from  the  throne  t<^  tlie  peoi)lc :  existence  now  depended  on  recoiv 

^  On  ilie  prisdP.-lifr  of  tliis  child,  tlic  iii<v<t  iniKKHMit  viotiin  of  llie  revolution, 
see  the  note  in  Flctrlicr's  Carlyle.  "  I'rench  Revolulion."  vol.  111.  pp.  iSq-ioo. 


S6«  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

structing  and  restoring  order,  at  the  same  time  keeping  the  nation 
in  great  activity.  The  new  constitution  accomphshed  this.  It 
differed  but  little  from  that  of  1791,  with  respect  to  the  exercise 
of  sovereignty,  but  greatly  in  everything  relative  to  government. 
It  confided  the  legislative  power  to  two  councils,  that  of  the  Cinq- 
cents  and  that  of  the  Anciens,  and  the  executive  power  to  a  direc- 
tory of  five  members.  It  restored  the  two  degrees  of  elections 
destined  to  retard  the  popular  movement,  and  to  lead  to  a  more 
enlightened  choice  than  immediate  elections.  The  wise  but  moder- 
ate qualifications  with  respect  to  property,  required  in  the  members 
of  the  primary  assemblies  and  the  electoral  assemblies,  again  con- 
ferred political  importance  on  the  middle  class,  to  which  it  became 
imperatively  necessary  to  recur  after  the  dismissal  of  the  multitude 
and  the  abandonment  of  the  constitution  of  '93. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  despotism  or  the  servility  of  a  single 
assembly,  it  was  necessary  to  place  somewhere  a  power  to  check  or 
defend  it.  The  division  of  the  legislative  body  into  two  councils, 
which  had  the  same  origin,  the  same  duration,  and  differed  only 
in  functions,  attained  the  twofold  object  of  not  alarming  the  people 
by  an  aristocratic  institution,  and  of  contributing  to  the  formation 
of  a  good  government.  The  council  of  five  hundred,  whose 
members  were  required  to  be  thirty  years  old.  was  alone  intrusted 
with  the  initiative  and  the  discussion  of  laws.  The  council  of  an- 
cients composed  of  250  members,  who  had  completed  their  fortieth 
year,  was  charged  with  adopting  or  rejecting  them. 

In  order  to  avoid  precipitation  in  legislative  measures,  and 
to  prevent  a  compulsory  sanction  from  the  council  of  ancients  in 
a  moment  of  popular  excitement,  they  could  not  come  to  a  decision 
until  after  three  readings,  at  a  distance  of  five  days  at  least  from 
each  other.  In  urgent  cases  this  formality  was  dispensed  with ;  and 
the  council  had  the  right  of  determining  such  urgency.  This  coun- 
cil acted  sometimes  as  a  legislative  power,  when  it  did  not  thor- 
oughly approve  a  measure,  and  made  use  of  the  form  ''  Lc  Conscil 
dcs  anciens  ne  pent  pas  adopter,"  and  sometimes  as  a  consen-ative 
power,  when  it  only  considered  a  measure  in  its  legal  bearing,  and 
said  "La  Co)istitufion  annule."  For  the  first  time  partial  re- 
elections  were  adopted,  and  the  renewing  of  half  of  the  council 
every  two  years  was  fixed,  in  order  to  avoid  that  rush  of  legislators 
who  came  with  an  immoderate  desire  for  innovation,  and  suddenly 
changed  the  spirit  of  an  assembly. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  353 

1795 

The  executive  power  was  distinct  irom  the  councils,  and  no 
longer  existed  in  the  committees.  Monarchy  was  still  too  much 
feared  to  admit  of  a  president  of  the  republic  being  named.  They, 
therefore,  confined  themselves  to  the  creation  of  a  directory  of  five 
members,  nominated  by  the  council  of  ancients,  at  the  recommenda- 
tion of  that  of  the  five  hundred.  The  directors  might  be  brought 
to  trial  by  the  councils,  but  could  not  be  dismissed  by  them.  They 
were  intrusted  with  a  general  and  independent  power  of  execution, 
but  it  was  wished  also  to  prevent  their  abusing  it,  and  especially  to 
guard  against  the  danger  of  a  long  habit  of  authority  leading  to 
usurpation.  They  had  the  management  of  the  armed  force  and 
of  the  finances,  the  nomination  of  functionaries,  the  conducting  of 
negotiations,  but  they  could  do  nothing  of  themselves ;  they  had 
ministers  and  generals,  for  whose  conduct  they  were  responsible. 
Each  member  was  president  for  three  months,  holding  the  seals  and 
affixing  his  signature.  Every  year  one  of  tlic  members  was  to  go 
out.  It  will  be  seen  by  this  account  that  the  functions  of  royalty  as 
they  were  in  1791  were  shared  by  the  council  of  ancients,  who  had 
the  veto,  and  the  directory,  which  held  the  executive  power.  The 
directory  had  a  guard,  a  national  palace,  the  Luxembourg,  for  a 
residence,  and  a  kind  of  civil  list.  The  council  of  the  ancients, 
destined  to  check  the  encroachments  of  the  legislative  pcnver.  was 
invested  with  the  means  of  restraining  the  usurpations  of  tlie  direc- 
tory; it  could  change  the  residence  of  the  councils  and  of  the 
government. 

But  this  foresight  has  another  aspect.  In  their  effort  to 
avoid  the  exorbitant  concentration  of  powers  which  the  terror 
government  had  enjoyed,  the  framers  of  the  constitution  went 
to  the  other  extreme.  As  in  the  constitution  of  T7«)I,  there 
was  so  great  a  separation  of  the  functions  of  government  that, 
in  case  of  conflict,  only  an  appeal  to  force  was  possible.  The 
provisions  that  one  director  sliould  retire  each  year  soon  divided 
the  executive  against  itself — a  condition  which  brought  about  the 
coup  d'etat  of  the  i8th  Fructidor  (September  4.  i/C)").  The  trutli 
is,  the  directory  held  its  place  only  through  negative  forces.  .^ince 
the  death  of  the  dauphin  and  tlie  royalist  lia>co  at  Ouibenni  a 
monarchy  was  impossible.  A  republican  iorm  of  govornnient.  with 
a  single  executive,  was  ini])' >ssil)le.  for  who  could  be  ])resi(leni  r 
Then,  again,  much  of  the  nation  was  too  tired  of  ])olitics  to  lie  ni- 
terested.     The  directorv.  from  the  first,  was  a  makeshift  govern- 


354  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

ment,  and  was  accepted  because  nothing  else  was  possible.  More 
than  any  other  class,  the  army  was  representative  of  France — a 
state  of  things  which  logically  led  to  Napoleon,  And  yet  the 
directory  was  partially  inclined  to  peace,  as  the  exchange  of 
Madame  Royale,  the  sister  of  the  dauphin,  shows.  But  it  dared 
not  disband  the  armies  after  Basel,  lest  their  home-coming  increase 
the  army  of  unemployed  and  discontented,  and  to  pay  them  aggres- 
sion had  to  continue.  The  soldiery  of  Napoleon  were  paid  out  of 
the  loot  of  Italy.* 

The  members  of  the  commission  of  eleven,  who,  previous  to 
the  events  of  Prairial,  had  no  other  mission  than  to  prepare  the 
organic  laws  of  the  constitution  of  '93,  and  who,  after  those  events, 
made  the  constitution  of  the  year  III.,  were  at  the  head  of  the  con- 
ventional party.  This  party  belonged  neither  to  the  old  Gironden 
nor  to  the  old  Mountain.  Neutral  up  to  May  31,  subject  till  the 
9th  Thermidor.  it  had  been  in  the  possession  of  power  since  that 
period,  because  the  twofold  defeat  of  the  Girondists  and  the  Moun- 
tain had  left  it  the  strongest.  The  men  of  the  extreme  sides,  who 
had  begun  the  fusion  of  parties,  joined  it.  Merlin  de  Douai  repre- 
sented the  party  of  that  mass  which  had  yielded  to  circumstances, 
Thibaudeau,  the  party  that  continued  inactive,  and  Daunou  the 
courageous  party.  The  latter  had  declared  himself  opposed  to  all 
coups  d'etat,  ever  since  the  opening  of  the  assembly,  both  January 
21  and  to  Alay  31,  because  he  wished  for  the  regime  of  the  con- 
vention, without  party  violence  and  measures,  x^fter  the  9th  Ther- 
midor he  blamed  the  fury  displayed  toward  the  chiefs  of  the 
revolutionary  government,  whose  victim  he  had  been  as  one  of  the 
seventy-three.  He  had  obtained  great  ascendency,  as  men  grad- 
ually approached  toward  a  legal  system.  His  enlightened  attach- 
ment to  the  revolution,  his  noble  independence,  the  solidity  and 
extent  of  his  ideas,  and  his  imperturbable  fortitude  rendered  him 
one  of  the  most  influential  actors  of  this  period.  He  was  the  chief 
author  of  the  constitution  of  the  year  III.,  and  the  convention 
deputed  him,  with  some  others  of  its  members,  to  undertake  the 
defense  of  the  republic   during  the  crisis  of  Vendemiaire. 

The  reaction  gradually  increased ;  it  was  indirectly  favored 
by  the  members  of  the  Right,  who,  since  the  opening  of  that  assem- 
bly, had  only  been  incidentally  republican.  They  were  not  prepared 
to  repel  the  attacks  of  the  royalists  with  the  same  energy  as  that  of 
the  revolutionists.     Among    this    number    were    Boissy  d'Anglas, 

■'See  Sorcl,  "  LJ  Europe  ct  la  Revolution  francaisc."  vol. 'IV.  p.  453  ff. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  355 

1795 

Lanjuinais,  Henri  la  Riviere,  Saladin,  and  Aubry;  they  formed  in 
ine  assembly  the  nucleus  of  the  sectionary  party.  Old  and  ardent 
Mountaineers,  such  as  Rovere  and  Bourdon  de  I'Oise,  carried  away 
by  the  counter-revolutionary  movement,  suffered  the  reaction  to  be 
prolonged,  doubtless  in  order  to  make  their  peace  with  those  whom 
they  had  so  violently  combated. 

But  the  conventional  party,  reassured  with  respect  to  the 
democrats,  set  itself  to  prevent  the  triumph  of  the  royalists.  It 
felt  that  the  safety  of  the  republic  depended  on  the  formation  of 
the  councils,  and  that  the  councils  being  elected  by  the  middle  class, 
which  was  directed  by  royalists,  would  be  composed  on  counter- 
revolutionary principles.  It  was  important  to  intrust  the  guardian- 
ship of  the  regime  they  were  about  to  establish  to  those  who  had 
an  interest  in  defending  it.  In  order  to  avoid  the  error  of  the  con- 
stituent assembly,  which  had  excluded  itself  from  the  legislature 
that  succeeded  it,  the  convention  decided  by  a  decree  that  two- 
thirds  of  its  members  should  be  reelected.  By  this  means  it  secured 
the  majority  of  the  councils  and  the  nomination  of  the  directory ; 
it  could  accompany  its  constitution  into  the  state,  and  consolidate 
it  without  violence.  This  reelection  of  two-tliirds  was  not  exactly 
legal,  but  it  was  politic,  and  the  only  means  of  saving  b'rance  from 
the  rule  of  the  democrats  or  counter-revolutionists.  The  convention 
granted  itself  a  moderate  dictatorship,  by  tlie  decrees  of  the  5th 
and  13th  Fructidor  (August  22  and  30.  1795),  one  of  which  es- 
tablished the  reelection,  and  tlie  other  fixed  the  manner  of  it.  But 
these  two  exceptional  decrees  were  submitted  to  the  ratification  of 
the  primary  assemblies   at  the  same  time  as  the  constitutional  act. 

The  royalist  party  was  taken  by  surprise  by  the  decrees  of 
Fructidor.  It  hoped  to  form  part  of  the  government  by  the  coun- 
cils, of  the  councils  by  elections,  and  to  clTect  a  change  of  system 
when  once  in  power.  It  inveigb.cd  against  tlie  convemion.  The 
royalist  committee  of  Paris,  wliose  agent  was  ati  obscure  man, 
named  Lemaitre.  the  jotirnalists.  and  the  leaders  of  the  sections 
coalesced.  They  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  tiie  su])i)ort  (A  jxibiic 
opinion,  of  which  they  were  the  only  organs;  they  accused  the  con- 
vention of  perpetuating  its  ])ower  and  of  assailing  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people.  The  c'lief  advocates  of  the  two-thirds.  I.^nivet. 
Daunou,  and  Chenier.  were  not  spared,  and  every  preparation  was 
made  for  a  grand  movement.  Th.e  I'rmbnurg  Saint  Clermain.  lately 
almost   deserted,    gradually    filled;   emigrants    docked    in,   and    the 


356  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

conspirators,  scarcely  concealing  tlieir  plans,  adopted  the  Chouan 
uniform. 

The  convention,  perceiving  the  storm  increase,  sought  support 
in  the  army,  which,  at  that  time,  was  the  republican  class,  and  a 
camp  was  formed  at  Paris.  The  people  had  been  disbanded  and 
the  royalists  had  secured  the  bourgeoisie.  In  the  meantime  the 
primary  assemblies  met  on  the  20th  Fructidor,  to  deliberate  on  the 
constitutional  act  and  the  decrees  of  the  two-thirds,  which  were  to 
be  accepted  or  rejected  together.  The  Lepelletier  section  (formerly 
Filles  Saint  Thomas)  was  the  center  of  all  the  others.  On  a  mo- 
tion made  by  that  section,  it  was  decided  that  the  power  of  all 
constituent  authority  ceased  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  people. 
The  Lepelletier  section,  directed  by  Richer  de  Serizy,  La  Harpe, 
Lacretelle  junior,  and  Vaublanc,  turned  its  attention  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  insurrectional  government,  under  the  name  of  the 
central  committee.  This  committee  was  to  replace  in  Vendemiaire, 
against  the  convention,  the  committee  of  August  10  against  the 
throne,  and  of  May  31  against  the  Girondists.  The  majority  of  the 
sections  adopted  this  measure,  which  was  annulled  by  the  conven- 
tion, whose  decree  was  in  its  turn  rejected  by  the  majority  of  the 
sections.  The  struggle  now  became  open;  and  in  Paris  they  sep- 
arated the  constitutional  act,  which  was  adopted,  from  the  decrees 
of  reelection,  which  were  rejected. 

On  the  ist  Vendemiaire  the  convention  proclaimed  the  ac- 
ceptation of  the  decrees  by  the  greater  number  of  the  primary 
assemblies  of  France.  The  sections  assembled  again  to  nominate 
the  electors  who  were  to  choose  the  members  of  the  legislature.  On 
the  loth  they  determined  that  the  electors  should  assemble  in  the 
Theatre  Frangais  (it  was  then  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Seine)  ;  that  they  should  be  accompanied  there  by  the  armed  force 
of  the  sections,  after  having  sworn  to  defend  them  till  death.  On  the 
nth,  accordingly,  the  electors  assembled  under  the  presidency  of 
the  Duke  de  Nivernois,  and  the  guard  of  some  detachments  of 
chasseurs  and  grenadiers. 

The  convention,  apprised  of  the  danger,  sat  permanently,  sta- 
tioned round  its  place  of  sitting  the  troops  of  the  camp  of  Sablons, 
and  concentrated  its  powers  in  a  committee  of  five  members,  who 
were  intrusted  with  all  measures  of  public  safety.  These  members 
were  Colombel,  Barras,  Daunou,  Le  Tourneur,  and  Merlin  de 
Douai,     For  some  time  the  revolutionists  had  ceased  to  be  feared, 


1795 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  357 


and  all  had  been  liberated  who  had  been  imprisoned  for  the  events 
of  Prairial.  Tliey  enrolled,  under  the  name  of  battalion  of  patriots 
of  '89,  about  1500  or  1800  of  them,  who  had  been  proceeded  against, 
in  the  departments  or  in  Paris,  by  the  friends  of  the  reaction.  In  the 
evening  of  the  nth  the  convention  sent  to  dissolve  the  assembly  of 
electors  by  force,  but  they  had  already  adjourned  to  the  following 
day. 

During  the  night  of  the  nth  the  decree  which  dissolved  the 
college  of  electors,  and  which  armed  the  battalion  of  patriots  of  '89, 
caused  the  greatest  agitation.  Drums  beat  to  arms ;  the  Lepelletier 
section  declaimed  against  the  despotism  of  the  convention,  against 
the  return  of  the  reign  of  terror,  and  during  the  whole  of  the  12th 
prepared  the  other  sections  for  the  contest.  In  tlie  evening,  the 
convention,  scarcely  less  agitated,  decided  on  taking  the  initiative 
by  surrounding  the  conspiring  section  and  terminating  the  crisis 
by  disarming  it.  Alenou,  general  of  the  interior,  and  Leporte,  the 
representative,  were  intrusted  with  this  mission.  The  convent  of 
the  Filles  Saint  Thomas  was  the  headquarters  of  the  sectionaries, 
before  which  they  had  700  or  800  men  in  battle  array.  These 
were  surrounded  by  superior  forces,  from  the  boulcxards  on  eacii 
side  and  the  Rue  Vivienne  opposite.  Instead  of  disarming  them 
the  leaders  of  the  expedition  ])egan  to  parley.  It  was  agreed  tliat 
both  parties  should  withdraw:  but  the  conventional  tr'/<»ps  had  no 
sooner  retired  than  the  sectionaries  returned  reinforced.  This  was 
a  complete  victory  for  them,  wliich  being  exaggerated  in  Paris,  as 
such  things  always  are.  increased  their  ninnber  and  gave  them 
courage  to  attack  the  convention  the  next  day. 

About  eleven  at  night  the  convention  learned  the  issue  of  tlie 
expedition  and  the  dangerous  effect  which  it  liad  produced;  it  in^- 
mediately  dismissed  Menou.  and  gave  the  command  of  the  armed 
force  to  Barras.  tlie  general  in  command  on  the  9th  Thormidor. 
Barras  asked  the  committee  of  five  to  appoint  as  liis  sec<>nd  in  com- 
mand a  young  otticer  who  had  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of 
'I'oulon.  but  had  been  dismissed  by  Aiil)ry  of  the  reaction  ])arty;  a 
young  man  of  talent  and  resolntinn,  calculated  to  do  good  service  to 
the  republic  in  a  moment  of  peril.  1'liis  yotmg  otTicer  was  BiMia- 
parte."'     He  ap[)earcd  before  the  committee,  but  there  was  nothing 

■'  N'apolcon  Runapartf  \\a-  h^rii  mi  Aun'i.-i  15.  I7'«).  at  Aiaocio  in  ("nr-ira. 
in  the  very  vear  \v'''n  the  inland  pa-^x-d  to  ]-"ran>.-e.  Tlie  fannly  ori'^inally 
rame  from  Tuscany,      lli-^   fatlier  was  a  hiwyer,  who  died  liel'ore  the  revliuion. 


358  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

in  his  appearance  that  announced  his  astonishing  destiny.  Not  a 
man  of  party,  summoned  for  the  first  time  to  this  great  scene  of 
action,  his  demeanor  exhibited  a  timidity  and  a  want  of  assurance, 
which  disappeared  entirely  in  the  preparations  for  battle  and  in  the 
heat  of  action.  He  immediately  sent  for  the  artillery  of  the  camp 
of  Sablons,  and  disposed  them,  with  the  5000  men  of  the  conven- 
tional army,  on  all  the  points  from  which  the  convention  could  be 
assailed.  At  noon  on  the  13th  Vendemiaire  the  enclosure  of  the 
convention  had  the  appearance  of  a  fortified  place,  which  could  only 
be  taken  by  assault.  The  line  of  defense  extended,  on  the  left  side 
of  the  Tuileries  along  the  river,  from  the  Pont  Neuf  to  the  Pont 
Louis  XV. ;  on  the  right,  in  all  the  small  streets  opening  on  the  Rue 
Saint  Honore,  from  the  Rues  de  Rohan,  de  I'Echelle  and  the  Cul- 
de-sac  Dauphin,  to  the  Place  de  la  Revolution.  In  front,  the 
Louvre,  the  Jardin  de  T Infante,  and  the  Carrousel  were  planted  with 
cannon ;  and  behind,  the  Pont  Tournant  and  the  Place  de  la  Revolu- 
tion formed  a  park  of  reserve.  In  this  position  the  convention 
awaited  the  insurgents. 

The  latter  soon  encompassed  it  on  several  points.  They  had 
about  40,000  men  under  arms,  commanded  by  Generals  Danican, 
Duhoux,  and  the  ex  garde-du-corps,  Lafond,     The  thirty-two  sec- 

His  mother,  Laetitia  Ramolino,  survived  her  famous  son.  Napoleon  was  the 
second  member  of  the  famih-.  The  eldest  brother  was  Joseph,  afterward  King 
of  Spain,  and  the  three  younger  were  Lucien,  Louis,  and  Jerome.  There 
were  three  sisters  also,  Elisa,  Caroline,  and  Pauline.  In  1778  Napoleon  was 
sent  to  a  college  in  Autun,  through  the  benefaction  of  Marbeuf,  the  governor 
of  Corsica.  Thence  he  passed  to  a  military  school  in  Brienne,  and  later 
to  Paris.  He  showed  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  scientific  studies.  He  became 
an  officer  of  artillery  in  the  regiment  of  La  Fere,  and  lived  in  garrison 
at  Valence,  Douai,  and  Auxonne.  At  this  time  he  had  no  love  for  France, 
indeed  was  bitterly  hostile  toward  his  adopted  country.  He  sided  with 
the  revolution,  but  took  no  active  part  in  its  movements  until  late  in  its 
course.  After  the  fall  of  the  monarchy,  in  September,  1792,  he  became 
a  captain  in  the  fourth  regiment  of  artillery.  During  the  terror  he  was 
an  advocate  of  Robespierre  and  his  name  has  been  found  upon  a  list  of  members 
of  the  Jacobin  Club.  After  the  9th  Thermidor  he  fell  under  suspicion,  like 
all  the  terrorists,  and  lost  his  place  in  the  army.  lie  refused  to  serve  under 
Hochc  in  the  Vendean  war,  and  was  contemplating  going  to  Constantinople 
with  the  hope  of  entering  the  army  of  the  sultan,  when  the  insurrection  of  the 
13th  Vendemiaire  brought  him  again  into  fame.  For  this  service  he  was  made 
a  general  of  division  in  the  army  of  the  interior,  and  soon  afterward  married 
Josephine,  the  widow  of  General  Beauharnais,  who  had  been  guillotined  during 
the  revolution.  When  the  triple  campaign  against  Austria  was  planned  Na- 
poleon was  given  command  of  the  army  of  Italy,  and  thenceforth  his  career 
was  European  in  its  importance. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  359 

1795 

tions  which  formed  the  majority  had  suppHed  their  mihtary 
contingent.  Of  the  other  sixteen,  several  sections  of  the  faubourgs 
had  their  troops  in  the  battahon  of  '89.  A  few,  those  of  the 
Quinze-vingts  and  Montreuil,  sent  assistance  during  the  action; 
others,  though  favorably  disposed,  as  that  of  Popincourt,  could  not 
do  so;  and  lastly,  others  remained  neutral,  like  that  of  L'lndivisi- 
bilite.  From  two  to  three  o'clock,  General  Carteaux,  who  occupied 
the  Pont  Neuf  with  4000  men  and  two  four-pounders,  was  sur- 
rounded by  several  columns  of  sectionaries,  who  obliged  him  to  fall 
back  on  the  Louvre.  This  advantage  emboldened  the  insurgents, 
who  were  strong  on  all  points.  General  Danican  summoned  the 
convention  to  withdraw  its  troops,  and  disarm  the  terrorists.  The 
officer  intrusted  with  the  summons  was  led  into  the  assembly  blind- 
folded, and  his  message  occasioned  some  agitation,  several  members 
declaring  in  favor  of  conciliatory  measures.  Boissy  d'Anglas  ad- 
vised a  conference  with  Danican;  Gamon  proposed  a  proclamation 
in  which  they  should  call  upon  the  citizens  to  retire,  promising 
then  to  disarm  the  battalion  of  '89.  This  address  excited  violent 
murmurs.  Chenier  rushed  to  the  tribune.  "  I  am  surprised,"  said 
he,  "  that  the  demands  of  sections  in  a  state  of  revolt  should  be 
discussed  here.  Negotiation  must  not  be  heard  of;  there  is  only 
victory  or  death  for  the  national  convention."  Lanjuinais  wished 
to  support  the  address,  by  dwelling  on  the  danger  and  misery  of 
civil  war;  but  the  convention  would  not  hear  hin.,  and  on  the 
motion  of  Fermond,  passed  to  the  order  of  the  day.  The  debates 
respecting  measures  of  peace  or  war  with  the  sections  were  con- 
tinued for  some  time,  when  about  half-past  four  several  discharges 
of  musketry  were  heard,  which  put  an  end  to  all  discussion.  Seven 
hundred  guns  were  brought  in,  and  the  convention  took  arms  as  a 
body  of  reserve. 

The  conflict  had  now  commenced  in  the  Rue  Saint  Honore, 
of  which  the  insurgents  were  masters.  The  first  shots  were  fired 
from  the  Hotel  de  Noailles,  and  a  murderous  fire  extended  tlie 
whole  length  of  this  line.  A  few  moments  afterward,  on  tlie  other 
side,  two  columns  of  sectionaries,  abcAit  4000  strong,  commanded 
by  the  Count  de  r^Iaulcvier,  advanced  by  the  quays  and  attacked  the 
Pont  Royal.  The  action  then  became  general,  but  it  could  not 
last  long;  the  place  was  too  well  defended  to  be  taken  by  assault. 
After  an  hour's  fighting  the  sectic^naries  were  driven  fr.  nn  Saint 
Roche  and  the  Rue  Saint  Honore  bv  the  cannon  of  the  convention 


360  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

and  the  battalion  of  patriots.  The  column  of  the  Pont  Royal  re- 
ceived three  discharges  of  artillery  in  front  and  on  the  side,  from 
the  bridge  and  the  quays,  which  put  it  entirely  to  flight.  At  seven 
o'clock  the  conventional  troops,  victorious  on  all  sides,  took  the 
offensive;  by  nine  o'clock  they  had  dislodged  the  sectionaries  from 
the  Theatre  de  la  Republique  and  the  posts  they  still  occupied  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Palais  Royal.  They  prepared  to  make  barri- 
cades during  the  night,  and  several  volleys  were  fired  in  the  Rue 
de  la  Loi  (Richelieu)  to  prevent  the  works.  The  next  day,  the 
14th,  the  troops  of  the  convention  disarmed  the  Lepelletier  section 
and  compelled  the  others  to  return  to  order." 

The  assembly,  which  had  only  fought  in  its  own  defense,  dis- 
played much  moderation.  The  13th  Vendemiaire  was  the  August 
10  of  the  royalists  against  the  republic,  except  that  the  conven- 
tion resisted  the  bourgeoisie  much  better  than  the  throne  resisted  the 
faubourgs.  The  position  of  France  contributed  very  much  to  this 
victory.  Men  now  wished  for  a  republic  without  a  revolutionary 
government,  a  moderate  regime  without  a  counter-revolution.  The 
convention,  which  was  a  mediatory  power,  pronounced  alike  against 
the  exclusive  domination  of  the  lower  class,  which  it  had  thrown  off 
in  Prairial,  and  the  reactionary  domination  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
which  it  repelled  in  Vendemiaire,  seemed  alone  capable  of  satisfy- 
ing this  twofold  want,  and  of  putting  an  end  to  the  state  of  warfare 
between  the  two  parties,  which  was  prolonged  by  their  alternate 
entrance  into  the  government.  This  situation,  as  well  as  its  own 
dangers,  gave  it  courage  to  resist  and  secured  its  triumph.  The 
sections  could  not  take  it  by  surprise,  and  still  less  could  they  take 
it  by  assault. 

After  the  events  of  Vendemiaire  the  convention  occupied 
itself  with  forming  the  councils  and  the  directory.  The  third  part, 
freely  elected,  had  been  favorable  to  reaction.  A  few  convention- 
alists, headed  by  Tallien,  proposed  to  annul  the  elections  of  this 
third,  and  wished  to  suspend,  for  a  longer  time,  the  conventional 
government.  Thibaudeau  exposed  their  design  with  much  courage 
and  eloquence.  The  whole  conventional  party  adopted  his  opin- 
ion. It  rejected  all  superfluous  arbitrary  sway,  and  showed  itself 
impatient  to  leave  the  provisional  state  it  had  been  in  for  the  last 

«  The  royalists  lost  about  two  hundred  men.  Upon  this  revolt  the  following 
references  may  be  consulted :  Von  Sybel,  "  French  Revolution,"  vol.  IV.  p.  412- 
426;  Thiers,  "French  Revolution,"  vol.  III.  pp.  312-332;  Buchez  et  Roux, 
"  Histoire  I'arlcmcniaire,"  vol.  XXXVI.  pp.  405-484. 


CLOSE     OF     THE     C  O  N  V  E  N  T  ION  361 

1795 

three  years.  The  convention  estabHshed  itself  as  a  national  elec- 
toral assembly,  in  order  to  complete  the  two-thirds  from  among  its 
members.  It  then  formed  the  councils;  that  of  the  ancients,  of 
250  members,  who  according  to  the  new  law  had  completed  forty 
years ;  that  of  five  hundred,  from  among  the  others.  The  councils 
met  in  the  Tuileries.  They  then  proceeded  to  form  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  attack  of  Vendemiaire  was  quite  recent;  and  the  republi- 
can party,  especially  dreading  the  counter-revolution,  agreed  to 
choose  the  directors  only  from  the  conventionalists,  and  further 
from  among  those  of  them  who  had  voted  for  the  death  of  the  king. 
Some  of  the  most  influential  members,  among  whom  was  Daunou, 
opposed  this  view,  wdiich  restricted  the  choice  and  continued  to 
give  the  government  a  dictatorial  and  revolutionary  character;  but 
it  prevailed.  The  conventionalists  thus  elected  were  La  Reveillere- 
Lepeaux,  invested  with  public  confidence  on  account  of  his  cour- 
ageous conduct  on  May  31,  for  his  probity  and  his  moderation; 
Sieyes,  the  man  who  of  all  others  enjoyed  the  greatest  celebrity  of 
the  day;  Rewbeh  possessed  of  great  administrati\-e  ability:  Le- 
Tourneur,  one  of  the  members  of  the  commission  of  five  during  the 
last  crisis;  and  Barras,  chosen  for  his  two  pieces  of  good  fortune  of 
Thermidor  and  Vendemiaire.  Sieyes,  who  had  refused  to  take 
part  in  the  legislative  commission  of  tlie  eleven,  also  refused  to 
enter  under  the  directory.  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  this  reluc- 
tance arose  from  calculation  or  an  insurmountable  antipathy  for 
Rewbel.  He  was  replaced  by  Carnot,  the  only  member  of  the 
former  committee  whom  tliey  were  disposed  to  favor,  on  account 
of  his  political  purity  and  his  great  share  in  the  victories  of  the 
republic.  Such  was  the  first  composition  of  the  directory.  On  the 
4th  Brumaire  the  convention  passed  a  law  of  amnesty,  in  order  to 
enter  on  legal  government:  changed  llie  name  of  the  Place  de  la 
Revolution  into  Place  de  la  Concorde,  and  declared  its  session 
closed. 

The  convention  lasted  three  years,  from  September  Ji,  1792, 
to  October  26.  1795  (4th  Ih-umaire,  year  I\'.).  Jt  took  several 
directions.  During  the  six  lirst  nioiiths  of  its  existence  it  was 
drawn  into  the  struggle  wliich  arose  beiwecn  the  legal  party  of  the 
Gironde  and  the  revolutionary  jjiirty  of  the  Mountain.  The  latter 
had  the  lead  froni  .\h-iy  31,  1793.  to  the  9th  Thermitlor,  year  TI.. 
July   26,    J794.       Tiic   ci'iuention    tlicn    obeyed    the   commiiice   of 


362  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

public  safety,  which  first  destroyed  its  old  allies  of  the  commune 
and  of  the  Mountain,  and  afterward  perished  through  its  own 
divisions.  From  the  9th  Thermidor  to  the  month  of  Brumaire, 
year  IV.,  the  convention  conquered  the  revolutionary  and  royalist 
parties  and  sought  to  establish  a  moderate  republic  in  opposition 
to  both. 

During  this  long  and  terrible  period  the  violence  of  the  situa- 
tion changed  the  revolution  into  a  war,  and  the  assembly  into  a  field 
of  battle.  Each  party  wished  to  establish  its  sway  by  victory  and 
to  secure  it  by  founding  its  system.  The  Girondist  party  made  the 
attempt,  and  perished;  the  Mountain  made  the  attempt,  and 
perished;  the  party  of  the  commune  made  the  attempt,  and  perished; 
Robespierre's  party  made  the  attempt,  and  perished.  They  could 
only  conquer,  they  were  unable  to  found  a  system.  The  property 
of  such  a  storm  was  to  overthrow  everything  that  attempted  to  be^ 
come  settled.  All  was  provisional ;  dominion,  men,  parties,  and 
systems,  because  the  only  thing  real  and  possible  was — war.  A 
year  was  necessary  to  enable  the  conventional  party,  on  its  return  to 
power,  to  restore  the  revolution  to  a  legal  position ;  and  it  could 
only  accomplish  this  by  two  victories — that  of  Prairial  and  that  of 
Vendemiaire.  But  the  convention  having  then  returned  to  the 
point  whence  it  started,  and  having  discharged  its  true  mission, 
which  was  to  establish  the  republic  after  having  defended  it,  dis- 
appeared from  the  theater  of  the  world  which  it  had  filled  with 
surprise.  A  revolutionary  power,  it  ceased  as  soon  as  legal  order 
recommenced.  Three  years  of  dictatorship  had  been  lost  to  liberty, 
but  not  to  the  revolution. 

The  convention  is  the  only  legislative  body  of  the  revolutionary 
epoch  any  portion  of  whose  work  was  really  of  a  constructive  char- 
acter. As  the  political  ideas  and  institutions  of  many  states  in 
Europe  may  be  to-day  traced  to  the  revolution,  so  some  of  the  less 
noticeable  institutions  of  everyday  life  owe  their  origin  to  the  legis- 
lation of  the  convention. 

The  metric  system  of  weight  and  measures  was  decreed  upon 
the  report  of  Arbogast,  August  i,  1795.  According  to  this  system 
the  metre  (39.37  inches)  with  its  sub-divisions  by  tenths,  was  ap- 
plied to  all  measures  of  length,  surface,  capacity  and  weight.  The 
most  important  reform  of  tlie  convention,  however,  was  in  the  mat- 
ter of  public  education.  To  quote  its  own  words.  "  There  sliall  be 
created  and  organized  a  system  of  pul)lic  instruction,  common  and 


CLOSE     OF     THE     CONVENTION  363 

1795 

free  to  all  citizens,  in  those  parts  of  education  indispensable  to  all 
men."  In  conformity  with  this  programme  three  sorts  of  schools 
were  created.  First,  primary  schools  in  every  commune,  where  read- 
ing, writing-,  and  arithmetic  were  taught,  proficiency  in  which 
w^as  required  for  one's  name  to  be  inscribed  upon  the  public 
registers. 

Unfortunately,  the  lack  of  resouices  obliged  the  convention  to 
forego  the  immediate  esta1)lishment  of  many  of  these  schools,  but 
the  purpose  of  the  assembly  became  the  realization  of  France  ere 
many  years.  Second,  central  or  secondary  schools,  intended  to  re- 
place the  old  colleges.  On  an  average  there  was  to  be  one  for  each 
department,  but  in  Paris  two  were  immediately  organized ;  that  of 
the  Quatre  Nations,  in  the  Palais  Mazarin,  and  that  of  the  Pan- 
theon, now  the  Lycee  Henri  Quatre.  In  these  sc1k)o1s  pupils  over 
twelve  years  of  age  were  received  and  were  taught  the  ancient 
languages,  mathematics,  and  the  sciences,  and  a  certain  amount  of 
philosophy.  As  with  the  former  class,  the  idea  of  the  convention 
was  too  great  to  be  achieved.  Third,  special  schools  or  cculcs  su- 
pcricnrcs,  notably  the  medical  schools  of  Paris,  Strasburg,  and 
Montpelier,  the  veterinary  colleges  of  Lyons  and  Alfort,  the  school 
of  Oriental  languages,  designed  to  be  of  practical  utility,  but  above 
all  the  ficole  Normale  and  the  ficole  Polytechni(|ue,  created  for 
the  education  of  teachers  and  destined  to  exercise  a  greater  in- 
fluence upon  the  intellectual  development  of  France  than  probably 
any  other  two  educational  institutions. 

Other  educational  institutions,  famous  throughout  France  and 
the  world  to-dav,  also  owe  their  authorship  to  the  convention:  the 
Conservatory  of  ]\Iusic,  the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  the  Jardin 
des  Plantes,  the  Observatory  of  Astronomical  Studies,  the  Con- 
servatory of  Arts  and  Inventions,  the  Military  Museum,  the 
National    Institute    for   Deaf   ^vlutcs,    and   the    Institution   of   the 

Blind. 

The  Biblothcfiue  Nationale,  begun  by  Charles  Y.,  was  increased 
through  the  operation  of  a  law  rcciuiring  the  de|)osit  with  it  (^f  two 
copies  of  every  work  iirintcd  in  iM-ancc,  as  well  as  by  the  confiscation 
of  the  libraries  of  the  snppressc<l  convents,  so  that  it  attained  at  one 
bound  its  rank  as  the  largest  collccti>>n  ^)\  books  in  the  world.  The 
Archives  Nationalcs  received  most  of  the  documents  formerly  dis- 
persed in  feudal  chatcaus  and  monasteries.  The  prdace  of  the 
Louvre,  which  at  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution  in   \y^^)  was  in  a 


364  THE     FRExNCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

semi-abandoned  state,  was  completely  changed  by  the  convention 
and  converted  into  a  great  art  gallery  and  museum.  The  Louvre 
was  enriched  by  collections  of  the  royal  palace,  confiscations,  and 
finally  by  tlie  magnificent  donations  made  to  it  by  Napoleon  as  the 
result  of  his  conquests.  The  organization  of  the  Institute  of  France 
by  the  union  of  the  French  Academy,  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions, 
and  the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  under  the  name  of  the 
Institut  National,  was  also  due  to  the  assembly. 


PART  V 

THE  DIRECTORY.     OCTOBER  26,  1795- 
NOVEMBER  10,  1799 


Chapter    XIV 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE   DIRECTORY.     OCTOBER 
26,  1795-SEPTEMBER  5,   1797 

THE  French  Revolution,  which  had  destroyed  the  old  gov- 
ernment and  thorcmghly  overturned  the  old  society,  had 
two  wholly  distinct  objects:  that  of  a  free  constitution 
and  that  of  a  more  perfect  state  of  civilization.  Tlie  six  years  we 
have  just  gone  over  were  the  search  for  government  by  each  of  the 
classes  which  composed  the  French  nation.  The  privileged  classes 
wished  to  establish  tlieir  regime  against  the  court  and  the  bour- 
geoisie, by  preserving  orders  and  the  states-general ;  the  bourgeoisie 
sought  to  establish  its  regime  against  the  privileged  classes  and  the 
multitude,  by  the  constitution  of  1791 ;  and  the  multitude  wished  to 
establish  its  regime  against  all  the  others  by  the  constitution  of 
1793.  Not  one  of  these  governments  could  1>ecome  consolidated, 
because  they  were  all  exclusive.  But  during  their  attempts  each 
class,  in  power  for  a  time,  destroyed  of  the  higher  classes  all  that 
was  intolerant  or  calculated  to  oppose  the  progress  of  modern 
civilization. 

When  the  directory  succeeded  the  convention  the  struggle 
between  the  classes  was  greatly  weakened.  Tlie  higher  ranks  of 
each  formed  a  party  which  still  contended  for  tlie  possession  and  for 
the  form  of  government;  but  the  mass  of  the  nation,  which  had 
been  so  profound] v  agitated  from  ijSf)  to  1705.  longed  to  become 
settled  again,  and  to  arrange  itself  according  to  the  new  order  of 
things.  This  period  witnessed  the  end  of  the  movement  for  liberty 
and  the  beginning  of  the  movement  toward  civilization.  The  revo- 
lution now  took  its  second  character,  its  character  of  order,  founda- 
tion, repose,  after  the  agitation,  the  immense  toil,  and  system  of 
complete  demolition  of  its  early  years. 

This  second  period  was  remarkable,  inasmuch  as  it  seemed  a 
kind  of  abandonment  of  liberty.  The  difTcrent  parties  being  no 
longer  able  to  possess  it  in  an  exclusive  and  durable  manner,  be- 
came discouraged  and  fell  back  from  public  into  private  life.      This 

361 


368  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

second  period  divided  itself  into  two  epochs :  it  was  liberal  under 
the  directory  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  consulate,  and  mili- 
tary at  the  close  of  the  consulate  and  under  the  empire.  The  revo- 
lution daily  grew  more  materialized ;  after  having  made  a  nation  of 
sectaries  it  made  a  nation  of  working  men,  and  then  it  made  a 
nation  of  soldiers. 

Many  illusions  were  already  destroyed ;  men  had  passed 
through  so  many  different  states,  had  lived  so  much  in  so  few  years, 
that  all  ideas  were  confounded  and  all  creeds  shaken.  The  reign 
of  the  middle  class  and  that  of  the  multitude  had  passed  away  like 
a  rapid  phantasmagoria.  They  were  far  from  that  France  of  July 
14,  with  its  deep  conviction,  its  high  morality,  its  assembly  exer- 
cising the  all-powerful  sway  of  liberty  and  of  reason,  its  popular 
magistracies,  its  citizen-guard,  its  brilliant,  peaceable,  and  animated 
exterior,  wearing  the  impress  of  order  and  independence.  They 
were  far  from  the  more  somber  and  more  tempestuous  France  of 
August  10,  when  a  single  class  held  the  government  and  society, 
and  had  introduced  therein  its  language,  manners,  and  costume,  the 
agitation  of  its  fears,  the  fanaticism  of  its  ideas,  the  distrust  of  its 
position.  Then  private  life  entirely  gave  place  to  public  life;  the 
republic  presented,  in  turn,  the  aspect  of  an  assembly  and  of  a  camp ; 
the  rich  were  subject  to  the  poor;  the  creed  of  democracy  combined 
with  the  gloomy  and  ragged  administration  of  tlie  people.  At  each 
of  these  periods  men  had  been  strongly  attached  to  some  idea :  first 
to  liberty  and  constitutional  monarchy,  afterward  to  equality,  fra- 
ternity, and  the  republic.  But  at  the  beginning  of  the  directory 
there  w^as  belief  in  nothing;  in  the  great  shipwreck  of  parties  all 
had  been  lost,  both  the  virtue  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  virtue  of 
the  people. 

Men  arose  from  this  furious  turmoil  weakened  and  wounded, 
and  each,  remembering  his  political  existence  with  terror,  plunged 
wdldly  into  the  pleasures  and  relations  of  private  life  which  had  so 
long  been  suspended.  Balls,  banquets,  debauchery,  splendid  car- 
riages became  more  fashionable  than  ever;  this  was  the  reaction  of 
the  ancient  regime.  The  reign  of  the  sans-culottes  brought  back 
the  (lomini(jn  of  the  rich :  the  clubs,  the  return  of  the  salons. 
For  the  rest,  it  was  scarcely  possible  but  that  the  first  symptom  of 
the  rcsuni]jtic)n  of  modern  civilization  should  be  thus  irregular. 
The  directorial  manners  were  the  product  of  another  society,  which 
had  to  appear  again  before  the  new  state  of  society  could  regulate 


T  H  E     D  I  R  E  C  T  0  R  Y  369 

1795 

its  relations  and  constitute  its  own  manners.  In  this  transition 
luxury  would  give  rise  to  labor,  stock-jobbing  to  commerce,  salons 
bring  parties  together  who  could  not  approximate  except  in  private 
life;  in  a  word,  civilization  would  again  usher  in  liberty. 

The  situation  of  the  republic  was  discouraging  at  the  installa- 
tion of  the  directory.  There  existed  no  element  of  order  or  ad- 
ministration. There  was  no  money  in  the  public  treasury ;  couriers 
were  often  delayed  for  want  of  the  small  sum  necessary  to  enable 
them  to  set  out.  In  the  interior  anarchy  and  uneasiness  were 
general;  paper  currency,  in  the  last  stage  of  discredit,  destroyed 
confidence  and  commerce;  the  dearth  became  protracted,  everyone 
refusing  to  part  with  his  commodities,  for  it  amounted  to  giving 
them  away;  the  arsenals  were  exhausted  or  almost  empty.  With- 
out the  armies  were  destitute  of  baggage-wagons,  horses,  and  suj)- 
plies ;  the  soldiers  were  in  want  of  clothes,  and  the  generals  were 
often  unable  to  liquidate  their  pay  of  eight  francs  a  month  in  specie. 
an  indispensable  supplement,  small  as  it  was,  to  tlieir  pay  in  as- 
signats ;  and  lastly,  the  troops,  discontented  and  undisciplined,  on 
account  of  their  necessities,  were  again  beaten   and  on  the  defensive. 

Things  were  at  this  state  of  crisis  after  tlie  fall  of  the  com- 
mittee of  public  safety.  This  committee  had  foreseen  the  dearth, 
and  prepared  for  it,  both  in  the  army  and  in  the  interior,  by  the 
requisitions  and  the  maximum.  No  one  had  dared  to  exempt  him- 
self from  this  financial  system,  which  rendered  tlie  wealthy  and 
commercial  classes  tributary  to  the  soldiers  and  the  multitude,  and 
at  that  time  provisions  had  not  been  witlihcld  from  the  market. 
But  since  violence  and  confiscation  had  ceased,  the  people,  the  con- 
vention, and  the  armies  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  landed  proprietors 
and  speculators,  and  terril^le  scarcity  existed,  a  reactit)n  against  the 
maximum.  The  svstem  of  the  convention  had  consisted,  in  i)olitical 
economy,  in  the  consumption  of  an  immense  capital,  reprcscnled 
by  the  assignats.  This  assembly  had  l)cen  n  rich  government, 
which  had  ruined  itself  in  defending  the  revolntion.  Nearly  half 
the  French  territory,  consisting  of  domains  of  the  crown,  eccle- 
siastical pro]:)erty.  or  tlic  estates  of  the  emigrant  nobility,  liad 
been  sold,  and  the  produce  applied  to  the  support  of  tlie  people, 
who  did  little  labor,  and  to  the  external  defense  of  tlie 
republic  by  the  armies.  More  than  eight  thousand  mihions  of 
assignats  had  been  issued  before  the  9th  Thermidor,  and  since  tlmt 
period  thirty  thousand  millions  had  been  added  to  that  sum,  already 


370  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1795 


SO  enormous.  Such  a  system  could  not  be  continued ;  it  was  neces- 
sary to  begin  the  work  again   and  return  to  real  money. 

The  men  deputed  to  remedy  this  great  disorganization  were, 
for  the  most  part,  of  ordinary  talent ;  but  they  set  to  work  with 
zeal,  courage,  and  good  sense.  "  When  the  directors,"  said 
Bailleul,^  "  entered  the  Luxembourg  there  was  not  an  article  of 
furniture.  In  a  small  room,  at  a  little  broken  table,  one  leg  of 
which  was  half  eaten  away  with  age,  on  which  they  placed  some 
letter-paper  and  a  calumet  standish,  which  they  had  fortunately 
brought  from  the  committee  of  public  safety,  seated  on  four  straw- 
bottom  chairs,  opposite  a  few  logs  of  dimly-burning  wood,  the 
whole  borrowed  from  Dupont,  the  porter;  who  would  believe  that 
it  was  in  such  a  condition  that  the  members  of  the  new  government, 
after  having  investigated  all  the  difficulties,  nay,  all  the  horror  of 
their  position,  resolved  that  they  would  face  all  obstacles,  and  that 
they  would  either  perish  or  rescue  France  from  the  abyss  into  which 
she  had  fallen  ?  On  a  sheet  of  writing-paper  they  drew  up  the  act 
by  which  they  ventured  to  declare  themselves  constituted,  an  act 
which  they  immediately  dispatched  to  the  legislative  chambers." 

The  directors  then  proceeded  to  divide  their  labors,  taking  as 
their  guide  the  grounds  which  had  induced  the  constitutional  party 
to  select  them.  Rewbel,  possessed  of  great  activity,  a  lawyer 
versed  in  government  and  diplomacy,  had  assigned  to  him  the  de- 
partments of  law,  finance,  and  foreign  affairs.  His  skill  and  com- 
manding character  soon  made  him  the  acting  man  of  the  directory 
in  all  civil  matters.  Barras  had  no  special  knowledge;  his  mind 
was  mediocre,  his  resources  few,  his  habits  indolent.  In  an  hour 
of  danger  his  resolution  qualified  him  to  execute  sudden  measures, 
like  those  of  Thermidor  or  Vendemiaire.  But  being,  on  ordinary 
occasions,  adapted  only  for  the  surveillance  of  parties,  the  intrigues 
of  which  he  was  better  acquainted  with  than  anyone  else,  the  police 
department  was  allotted  to  him.  He  was  well  suited  for  the  task. 
being  supple  and  insinuating,  without  partiality  for  any  political 
sect,  and  having  revolutionary  connections  bv  his  past  life,  while  his 
birth  gave  him  access  to  the  aristocracy,  Barras  took  on  himself 
the  representation  of  the  directory  and  established  a  sort  of  repub- 
lican regency  at  the  Luxembourg.  The  pure  and  moderate  La 
Reveillcrc,  whose  gentleness  tempered  with  courage,  whose  sincere 

^  "  Exavicn  Critique  dcs  Considerations  de  Madame  dc  Stael,  stir  la  Revo- 
lution fra>ii:aise;'  by  M.  J.  Ch.  Bailleul,  vol.  II.  pp.  273-281. 


THE     DIRECTORY  371 

1795 

attachment  for  the  repubhc  and  legal  measures  had  procured  him 
a  post  in  the  directory  with  the  general  consent  of  the  assembly  and 
public  opinion,  had  assigned  to  him  the  moral  department,  em- 
bracing education,  the  arts,  sciences,  and  manufactures.  Le  Tour- 
neur,  an  ex-artillery  officer,  member  of  the  committee  of  public 
safety  at  the  latter  period  of  the  convention,  had  been  appointed  to 
the  war  department.  But  when  Carnot  was  chosen,  on  the  refusal 
of  Sieyes,  he  assumed  the  direction  of  military  operations,  and  left 
to  his  colleague  Le  Tourneur  the  navy  and  the  colonies.  His  high 
talents  and  resolute  character  gave  him  the  upper  hand  in  the  direc- 
tory. Le  Tourneur  attached  himself  to  him,  as  La  Reveillere  to 
Rewbel,  and  Barras  was  between  the  two.  At  this  period  the 
directors  turned  their  attention  with  the  greatest  concord  to  the 
improvement  and  welfare  of  the  state. 

The  directors  frankly  followed  the  route  traced  out  for  them 
by  the  constitution.  After  having  established  authority  in  the 
center  of  the  republic  they  organized  it  in  the  departments,  and 
established,  as  well  as  they  could,  a  correspondence  of  design  be- 
tween local  administrations  and  their  own.  Placed  l^etween  the  two 
exclusive  and  dissatisfied  parties  of  Prairial  and  Vendcmiaire,  they 
endeavored,  by  a  decided  line  of  conduct,  to  subject  them  to  an 
order  of  things,  holding  a  place  midway  between  their  extreme 
pretensions.  They  sought  to  revive  the  enthusiasm  and  order  of 
the  first  years  of  the  revolution,  "  You,  whom  we  summon  to 
share  our  labors,"  they  wrote  to  their  agents.  "  you  who  have,  with 
us,  to  promote  the  progress  of  the  republican  constitution,  your  first 
virtue,  your  first  feeling,  should  be  that  decided  resolution,  that 
patriotic  faith,  which  has  also  i)roduced  its  enthusiasts  and  its 
miracles.  All  will  be  achieved  when,  by  your  care,  that  sincere  love 
of  liberty  which  sanctified  the  dawn  of  the  revolution,  again  ani- 
mates the  heart  of  every  Frenchman.  The  1)anners  of  liberty  float- 
ing on  every  house,  and'  tlie  republican  dc\  ice  written  on  every  d.ior. 
doubtless  form  an  interesting  sight.  Obtain  more;  hasten  the  day 
when  the  sacred  name  of  the  republic  shall  be  graven  voluntarily 
on  every  heart." 

In  a  short  time  tlie  wise  .and  firm  jirocecdings  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment restored  confidence,  labor,  and  plenty.  The  circulation  of 
provisions  was  secured,  and  at  the  end  of  a  month  the  directory 
was  relieved  from  the  obligation  to  provide  Paris  with  sup]>!ics. 
which  it  efl'ected  for  itself.      The  immense  activity  created  by  tlie 


372  THE     F  R  P:  N  C  H     REVOLUTION 

1795 

revolution  began  to  be  directed  toward  industry  and  agriculture.  A 
part  of  the  population  quitted  the  clubs  and  public  places  for  work- 
shops and  fields ;  and  then  the  benefit  of  a  revolution,  which,  having 
destroyed  corporations,  divided  property,  abolished  privileges,  in- 
creased fourfold  the  means  of  civilization,  and  was  destined  to 
produce  prodigious  good  to  France,  began  to  be  felt.  The  directory 
encouraged  this  movement  in  the  direction  of  labor  by  salutary  in- 
stitutions. It  reestablished  public  exhibitions  of  the  produce  of 
industry  and  improved  the  system  of  education  decreed  under  the 
convention.  The  national  institute,  primary,  central,  and  normal 
schools  formed  a  complete  system  of  republican  institutions.  La 
Reveillere,  the  director  intrusted  with  the  moral  department  of  the 
government,  then  sought  to  establish,  under  the  name  of  Theophi- 
lanthropie,  the  deistical  religion  which  the  committee  of  public 
safety  had  vainly  endeavored  to  establish  by  the  fete  of  the  Supreme 
Being.  He  provided  temples,  hymns,  forms,  and  a  kind  of  lit- 
urgy for  the  new  religion;  but  such  a  faith  could  only  be  indi- 
vidual, could  not  long  continue  public.  The  theophilanthropists, 
whose  religion  was  opposed  to  the  political  opinions  and  the  un- 
belief of  the  revolutionists,  were  much  ridiculed.  Thus,  in  the 
passage  from  public  institutions  to  individual  faith  all  that  had  been 
liberty  became  civilization,  and  what  had  been  religion  became 
opinion.  Deists  remained,  but  theophilanthropists  were  no  longer 
to  be  met  with. 

The  directory,  pressed  for  money  and  shackled  by  the  disas- 
trous state  of  the  finances,  had  recourse  to  measures  somewhat 
extraordinary.  It  had  sold  or  pledged  the  most  valuable  articles 
of  the  wardrobe  in  order  to  meet  the  greatest  urgencies.  National 
property  was  still  left,  but  it  sold  badly  and  for  assignats.  The 
directory  proposed  a  compulsory  loan,  which  was  decreed  by  the 
councils.  This  was  a  relic  of  the  revolutionary  measures  with 
regard  to  the  rich  ;  but,  having  been  irresolutely  adopted,  and  ex- 
ecuted without  due  authority,  it  did  not  succeed.  The  directory 
then  endeavored  to  revive  paper  money;  it  proposed  the  issue  of 
mandats  territoriaux,  which  were  to  be  substituted  for  the  assignats 
then  in  circulation,  at  the  rate  of  thirty  for  one.  and  to  take  the 
place  of  money.  The  councils  decreed  the  issue  of  mandats  terri- 
toriaux to  the  amount  of  two  thousand  four  hundred  millions. 
They  had  the  advantage  of  being  exchangeable  at  once  and  upon 
presentation    for   the  national   domains  which    represented   them. 


1795 


T  H  E     D  I  R  E  C  T  O  R  Y  373 


They  caused  the  sale  of  a  large  extent  of  these,  and  in  this  way 
completed  the  revolutionary  mission  of  the  assignats,  of  which  they 
were  the  second  period.  They  procured  the  directory  a  momentar>- 
resource;  but  they  also  lost  their  credit,  and  led  insensibly  to  bank- 
ruptcy, w^hich  was  the  transition  from  paper  to  specie. 

The  military  situation  of  the  republic  was  nut  a  brilliant  one; 
at  the  close  of  the  convention  there  had  been  an  abatement  of 
victories.  The  equivocal  position  and  weakness  of  the  central 
authority,  as  much  as  the  scarcity,  had  relaxed  the  discipline  of  the 
troops.  The  generals,  trjo.  disappointed  that  they  had  distinguished 
their  commands  by  so  few  victories,  and  were  not  spurred  on  by  an 
energetic  government,  became  inclined  t<.  insubordination.  The 
convention  had  deputed  Pichegru  and  Jourdan.  one  at  the  head  of 
the  army  of  tlie  Rhine,  the  other  with  that  of  the  Sambre-et-Meuse, 
to  surround  and  capture  Mayence,  in  order  that  they  might  occui)y 
the  whole  line  of  the  Rhine.  Pichegru  m;ule  this  project  com- 
pletely fail:  although  possessing  the  entire  confidence  of  the  re- 
public, and  enjoying  the  greatest  military  fame  of  tlie  day,  lie 
formed  counter-revolutionary  schemes  with  the  Prince  de  Conde; 
but  they  were  unal)!e  to  agree.  Pichegru  urged  tlie  emigrant 
prince  to  enter  France  wn'th  his  troops,  by  Switzerland  or  the 
Rhine,  promising  to  remain  inactive,  the  (^nly  thing  in  his  power 
to  do  in  favor  of  such  an  attempt.  TIic  prince  re(|uired  as  a  i)re- 
Hminary  that  Pichegru  should  lioist  the  wliite  Hag  in  his  arniv. 
which  was,  to  a  man,  republican.  This  Iicsitation.  no  doubt,  in- 
jured the  projects  of  the  reactionists,  wlio  were  preparing  the  con- 
spiracy of  Vendemiaire.  But  Picliegru  wishing,  one  way  or  tlie 
other,  to  serve  his  new  allies  and  to  betray  liis  conntry.  allowed 
himself  to  be  defeated  at  Heidelberg,  C(mi])roniiscd  the  army  of 
Jourdan,  evacuated  Mannlieini.  raised  tlie  siege  of  Mayence  with 
considerable  loss,  and  exposed  tliat  frontier  to  tlie  encmv. 

The  directory  found  the  Rliiiie  open  tmvanl  Mayence;  the 
war  of  La  Vendee  rekindled;  the  coasts  of  i-'rance  and  Holland 
threatened  with  a  descent  from  Pngland :  lastly,  the  army  of  Ita1\- 
destitute  of  evervthing,  and  merely  maintaining  the  defensive  under 
Scherer  and  Kellermann.  I*^-ance  was  really  not  in  a  condition  to 
wage  offensive  war.  torn  as  the  country  was  by  i:)ol!tical  faction  and 
fierce  reaction,  with  its  conimerce  destroyed  and  agriculture  rdnvxt 
at  a  standstill.  Tlie  responsibility  for  tlic  continuation  of  the  war 
is  to  be  laid  upon   I-Jigland  and   Austria.       lioth  of  these  powers 


374  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1795 

believed  that  France  was  so  exhausted  that  it  would  be  easily  possi- 
ble to  crush  out  the  last  vestiges  of  Jacobinism.^ 

Carnot  prepared  a  new  plan  of  campaign,  which  was  to  carry 
the  armies  of  the  republic  to  the  very  heart  of  the  hostile  states. 
Bonaparte,  appointed  general  of  the  interior  after  the  events  of 
Vendemiaire,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  army  of  Italy,  Jourdan 
retained  the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Sambre-et-Meuse,  and 
Moreau  had  that  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine,  in  place  of  Pichegru. 
The  latter,  whose  treason  was  suspected  by  the  directory,  though 
not  proved,  was  offered  the  embassy  to  Sweden,  which  he  refused, 
and  retired  to  Arbois,  his  native  place.  The  three  great  armies, 
placed  under  the  orders  of  Bonaparte,  Jourdan,  and  Moreau,  were 
to  attack  the  Austrian  monarchy  by  Italy  and  Germany,  combine  at 
the  entrance  of  the  Tyrol,  and  march  upon  Vienna  in  echelon.  The 
generals  prepared  to  execute  this  vast  movement,  the  success  of 
which  would  make  the  republic  mistress  of  the  headquarters  of  the 
coalition  on  the  Continent. 

The  directory  gave  to  General  Hoche  the  command  of  the 
coast,  and  deputed  him  to  conclude  the  Vendean  war.  Hoche 
changed  the  system  of  warfare  adopted  by  his  predecessors.  La 
Vendee  was  disposed  to  submit.  Its  previous  victories  had  not  led 
to  the  success  of  its  cause;  defeat  and  ill-fortune  had  exposed  it  to 
plunder  and  conflagration.  The  insurgents,  irreparably  injured  by 
the  disaster  of  Savenay,  by  the  loss  of  their  principal  leader  and 
their  best  soldiers,  by  the  devastating  system  of  the  infernal  col- 
umns, now  desired  nothing  more  than  to  live  on  good  terms  with 
the  republic.  The  war  now  depended  only  on  a  few  chiefs,  upon 
Charette,  Stofflet,  and  others.  Hoche  saw  that  it  was  necessary  to 
wean  the  masses  from  these  men  by  concessions  and  then  to  crush 
them.  He  skillfully  separated  the  royalist  cause  from  the  cause  of 
religion  and  employed  the  priests  against  the  generals  by  showing 
great  indulgence  to  the  Catholic  religion.  He  had  the  country 
scoured  by  four  powerful  columns,  took  their  cattle  from  the  inhab- 

-  Grenville  wrote  (to  Eden,  April  17,  1795):  "We  can  never  hope  that 
the  circumstances,  as  far  as  they  regard  the  state  of  France,  can  be  more  favor- 
able than  they  are  now." — Quoted  in  Fyffe,  "  Modern  Europe,"  vol.  I.  p.  98, 
note.  As  Fyffe  points  out  in  three  excellent  pages  (97-99),  it  would  have  been 
well  if  every  power  in  Europe  had  accepted  the  situation,  for  the  territory  gained 
by  France  at  the  treaty  of  Basel  was  not  more  than  the  balance  of  power 
justified,  considering  the  recent  partitions  of  Poland.  But  Austria  and  England 
made  an  error  of  judgment  at  the  psychological  moment,  and  on  a  high  wave 
of  militarism  Napoleon  rode  to  power. 


THE     DIRECTORY  375 

1796 

itants,  and  only  restored  them  in. return  for  their  arms.  He  left  no 
repose  to  the  armed  party,  defeated  Charette  in  several  encounters, 
pursued  him  from  one  retreat  to  another,  and  at  last  made  him 
prisoner,  Stofflet  wished  to  raise  the  Vendean  standard  ag-ain  on 
his  territory,  but  it  was  given  up  to  the  republicans.  These  two 
chiefs,  who  had  witnessed  the  beginning-  of  the  insurrection,  were 
present  at  its  close.  They  died  courageously,  Stofflet  at  Angers, 
Charette  at  Nantes,  after  having  displayed  character  and  talents 
worthy  of  a  larger  theater.  Hoche  likewise  tranquilized  Brittany. 
Morbihan  was  occupied  by  numerous  bands  of  Chouans,  who 
formed  a  formidable  association,  the  princijxd  leader  of  which  was 
Georges  Cadoudal.  Without  entering  on  a  campaign  they  were 
mastering  the  country.  Hoche  directed  all  his  force  and  activity 
against  them,  and  before  long  had  destroyed  or  exhausted  them. 
Most  of  their  leaders  quitted  their  arms  and  took  refuge  in  Eng- 
land. The  directory  on  learning  these  fortunate  pacifications 
formally  announced  to  both  councils,  on  the  28th  Alessidor  (June, 
1796),  that  this  civil  war  was  definitely  terminated. 

In  this  manner  the  winter  of  the  year  IV.  passed  away.  But 
the  directory  could  hardly  fail  to  be  attacked  by  the  two  parties, 
whose  sway  was  prevented  by  its  existence,  the  democrats  and  the 
royalists.  The  former  constituted  an  inflexible  and  enterprising 
sect.  For  them  the  9th  Thermidor  was  an  era  of  pain  and  oppres- 
sion: they  desired  to  establish  absolute  equality,  in  spite  of  the  state 
of  society,  and  democratic  liberty,  in  spite  of  civilization.  This  sect 
had  been  so  vanquished  as  effectually  to  prevent  its  return  to  power. 
On  the  9th  Thermidor  it  had  been  driven  from  the  government, 
on  the  2d  Prairial  from  society,  and  it  had  U)St  both  power  and 
insurrections.  But  though  disorganized  and  also  ])r()scribed,  it 
was  far  from  having  disappeared.  After  the  unfortunate  at- 
tempt of  the  royalists  in  Vendemiaire  it  arose  through  their 
abasement. 

The  democrats  reestablished  their  club  at  the  Pantheon,  which 
the  directory  tolerated  for  some  time.  They  had  for  their  chief 
"Gracchus"  Babccuf,  who  styled  himself  the  "  Tribune  of  the 
people."  He  was  a  daring  man.  of  an  exalted  imagination,  an 
extraordinary  fanaticism  of  democracy,  and  with  great  influence 
over  his  party.  In  his  join-nal  he  prepared  the  reign  of  general 
happiness.  The  society  at  the  Pantheon  daily  became  more 
numerous,  and  more  akuaning  to  the  directory,   who  at  first  en- 


376  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1796 

deavored  to  restrain  it.  But  the  sittings  were  soon  protracted  to 
an  advanced  hour  of  the  night;  the  democrats  repaired  thither  in 
arms  and  proposed  marching  against  the  directory  and  the  coun- 
cils. The  directory  determined  to  oppose  them  openly.  On  the 
8th  Ventose,  year  IV.  (February,  1796),  it  closed  the  society  of  the 
Pantheon  and  on  the  9th  bv  a  message  informed  the  legislative 
body  that  it  had  done  so. 

The  democrats,  deprived  of  their  place  of  meeting,  had  re- 
course to  another  plan.  They  seduced  the  police  force,  which  was 
chiefly  composed  of  deposed  revolutionists,  and  in  concert  with  it 
they  were  to  destroy  the  constitution  of  the  year  III.  The  direc- 
tory, informed  of  this  new  maneuver,  disbanded  the  police  force, 
causing  it  to  be  disarmed  by  other  troops  on  whom  it  could  rely. 
The  conspirators,  taken  by  surprise  a  second  time,  determined  on  a 
project  of  attack  and  insurrection:  they  formed  an  insurrectionary 
committee  of  public  safety,  which  communicated  by  secondary 
agents  wnth  the  lower  orders  of  the  twelve  communes  of  Paris.  The 
members  of  this  principal  committee  were  Babceuf,^  the  chief  of 
the  conspiracy,  ex-conventionalists,  such  as  Vadier,  Amar,  Chou- 
dieu,  Ricord,  the  representative  Drouet,  the  former  generals  of  the 
decemviral  committee,  Rossignol,  Parrein,  Fyon,  Lami.  IMany 
cashiered  officers,  patriots  of  the  departments,  and  the  old  Jacobin 
mass,  composed  the  army  of  this  faction.  The  chiefs  often  assem- 
bled in  a  place  they  called  the  Temple  of  Reason ;  here  they  sang 
lamentations  on  the  death  of  Robespierre  and  deplored  the  slavery 
of  the  people.  They  opened  a  negotiation  with  the  troops  of  the 
camp  of  Crenelle,  admitted  among  them  a  captain  of  that  camp, 
named  Grisel,  whom  they  supposed  their  own,  and  concerted  every 
measure  for  the  attack. 

Their  plan  w^as  to  establish  common  happiness,  and  for  that 
purpose  to  make  a  distribution  of  property,  and  to  cause  the  gov- 
ernment of  true,  pure,  and  absolute  democrats  to  prevail ;  to  create 
a  convention  composed  of  sixty-eight  Mountaineers,  the  remnant  of 
the  numbers  proscribed  since  the  reaction  of  Thermidor,  and  to  join 
witli  these  a  democrat  for  each  department;  lastly,  to  start  from  the 
different  quarters   in  which  they  had   distributed  themselves,  and 

-'  Babc£ui  was  a  native  of  Artois  and  was  of  Protestant  ancestry.  At  one 
time  in  life  he  was  an  engraver.  In  1791  he  became  a  member  of  the  directory 
f)f  the  department  of  tlie  Somme,  but  was  convicted  of  dishonesty.  For  a  short 
time  dnrimj  th.e  revolution  he  pubhshed  a  newspaper  known  as  Le  Tribuit  dii 


THE     DIRECTORY  377 

■1796 

march  at  the  same  time  against  the  directory  and  against  the 
councils.  On  the  night  of  the  insurrection  they  were  to  fix  up  two 
placards;  one,  containing  the  words,  "the  constitution  of  1793! 
liberty!  equality!  common  happiness!"  the  other,  containing  the 
following  declaration,  "  Those  who  usurp  the  sovereignty  ought 
to  be  put  to  death  by  free  men."  All  was  ready,  the  proclamations 
printed,  the  day  appointed,  when  thev  were  betrayed  by  Grisel  as 
generally  happens  in  conspiracies. 

On  the  2 1  St  Floreal  (May),  the  eve  ot  the  day  f^xed  for  the 
attack,  the  conspirators  were  seized  in  their  conventicle.  In  the 
house  of  BabcEuf  were  found  a  plan  of  tlie  plot  and  all  tlie  docu- 
ments connected  with  it.  The  directory  apprised  the  councils  of  it 
by  a  message  and  announced  it  to  the  people  by  proclamation.  This 
strange  attempt,  savoring  so  strongly  of  fanaticism,  and  whicli 
could  only  be  a  repetition  of  the  insurrection  of  Prairial,  without 
its  means  and  its  hopes  of  success,  excited  the  greatest  terror.  The 
public  mind  was  still  terrified  witli  the  recent  domination  of  the 
Jacobins. 

Baboeuf,  like  a  daring  conspirator,  prisoner  as  he  was.  proposed 
terms  of  peace  to  the  directory. 

"  Would  you  consider  it  beneath  you,  citizen  directors,"  he 
wrote  to  them,  "to  treat  with  me,  as  power  witli  ])()wer?  Ycju 
have  seen  what  vast  confidence  centers  in  me;  vou  lirne  seen  that 
my  party  may  well  balance  equally  in  the  scale  your  own;  you  have 
seen  its  immense  ramifications.  I  aiu  C(Mivinced  you  have  trembled 
at  the  sight."  He  concluded  bv  saying:  "  T  see  but  one  wise  mode 
of  proceeding:  declare  there  has  been  no  serious  conspiracy,  l-'ive 
men,  by  showing  themselves  great  and  generous,  may  now  save  the 
country.  I  will  answer  for  it,  that  the  patriots  will  defend  you 
with  their  lives ;  the  patriots  do  not  hate  you ;  they  only  hated  your 
unpopular  measures.  ¥(n-  my  i)art,  T  will  give  you  a  guarantee  as 
extensive  as  is  mv  perpetual  franchise.""  The  directors,  instead  of 
this  reconciliation,  published  Balxeuf's  letter  and  sent  the  con- 
spirators l)efore  the  high  court  of  Vendome. 

Their  partisans  made  one  more  atteiupt.  On  the  13th  h^uc- 
tidor  (August),  about  eleven  at  night,  they  marched,  to  the  number 
of  six  or  seven  hundred,  armed  witli  sabers  and  [)istols.  against  the 
directory,  whom  they  I'ouinl  defended  by  its  guard.  They  then 
repaired  to  the  camp  of  Grenelle,  whicli  they  hoped  to  gain  over  by 
means   of  a   ccjrrespondence   which   they   h:id   established    with    it. 


378  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1796 

The  troops  had  retired  to  rest  when  the  conspirators  arrived.  To 
the  sentinel's  cry  of  ''Qui  vivef"  they  repHed:  "  Vive  la  repub- 
lique!  Vive  la  constitution  de  '93!"  The  sentinels  gave  the 
alarm  through  the  camp.  The  conspirators,  relying  on  the  assist- 
ance of  a  battalion  from  Gard,  which  had  been  disbanded,  advanced 
toward  the  tent  of  Malo,  the  commander-in-chief,  who  gave  orders 
to  sound  to  arms,  and  commanded  his  half-dressed  dragoons  to 
mount.  The  conspirators,  surprised  at  this  reception,  feebly  de- 
fended themselves;  they  were  cut  down  by  the  dragoons  or  put  to 
flight,  leaving  many  dead  and  prisoners  on  the  field  of  battle. 
This  ill-fated  expedition  was  almost  the  last  of  the  party;  with 
each  defeat  it  lost  its  force,  its  chiefs,  and  acquired  the  secret  con- 
viction that  its  reign  was  over.  The  Crenelle  enterprise  proved 
most  fatal  to  it ;  besides  the  numbers  slain  in  the  fight,  many  were 
condemned  to  death  by  the  military  commissions,  which  were  to 
it  what  the  revolutionary  tribunals  had  been  to  its  foes.  The  com- 
mission of  the  camp  of  Crenelle,  in  five  sittings,  condemned  thirty- 
one  conspirators  to  death,  thirty  to  transportation,  and  twenty-five 
to  imprisonment. 

Shortly  afterward  the  high  court  of  Vendome  tried  Baboeuf 
and  his  accomplices,  among  whom  were  Amar,  Vadier,  and  Darthe, 
formerly  secretary  to  Joseph  Lebon.  They  none  of  them  belied 
themselves;  they  spoke  as  men  who  feared  neither  to  avow  their 
object  nor  to  die  for  their  cause.  At  the  beginning  and  the  end  of 
each  sitting  they  sang  the  "  Marseillaise."  This  old  song  of  victory 
and  their  firm  demeanor  struck  the  public  mind  with  astonishment 
and  seemed  to  render  them  still  more  formidable.  Their  wives  ac- 
companied them  to  the  trial.  Baboeuf  at  the  close  of  his  defense 
turned  to  them  and  said :  "  They  should  accompany  them  even  to 
Calvary,  because  the  cause  of  their  punishment  would  not  bring 
them  to  shame."  The  high  court  condemned  Baboeuf  and  Darthe 
to  death ;  as  they  heard  their  sentence  they  both  stabbed  themselves 
with  a  poignard.  Baboeuf  was  the  last  leader  of  the  old  commune 
and  the  committee  of  public  safety,  which  had  separated  previous  to 
Thermidor,  and  which  afterward  united  again.  This  party  de- 
creased daily.  Its  dispersion  and  isolation  more  especially  date 
from  this  period.  Under  the  reaction  it  still  formed  a  compact 
mass;  under  Baboeuf  it  maintained  the  position  of  a  formidable 
association.  From  that  time  democrats  existed,  but  the  party  was 
broken  up. 


THE     DIRECTORY  379 

1796 

In  the  interim  between  the  Crenelle  enterprise  and  Baboeuf's 
condemnation  the  royalists  also  formed  their  conspiracy.  The 
projects  of  the  democrats  produced  a  movement  of  opinion  con- 
trary to  that  which  had  been  manifested  after  Vendemiaire,  and  the 
counter-revolutionists  in  their  turn  became  emboldened.  The  secret 
chiefs  of  this  party  hoped  to  find  auxiliaries  in  the  troops  of  the 
camp  of  Crenelle,  who  had  repelled  the  Baboeuf  faction.  This 
party,  impatient  and  unskillful,  unable  to  employ  the  sectionary 
mass,  as  in  Vendemiaire,  or  the  mass  of  the  councils,  as  at  a  later 
period  on  the  i8th  Fructidor,  made  use  of  three  men  without  either 
name  or  influence;  the  Abbe  Brothier,  the  ex-counselor  of  parle- 
ment,  La  Vilheurnois.  and  a  sort  of  adventurer,  named  Dunan. 
They  applied  at  once,  in  all  simplicity,  to  ]\Ialo  for  the  camp  of 
Crenelle,  in  order  by  its  means  to  restore  the  ancient  regime.  Malo 
delivered  them  up  to  the  directory,  who  transferred  them  to  the 
civil  tribunals,  not  having  been  able,  as  he  wished,  to  have  them 
tried  by  military  commissioners.  They  were  treated  with  much 
consideration  by  judges  of  their  party,  elected  under  the  influence 
of  Vendemiaire,  and  the  sentence  pronounced  against  them  was 
only  a  short  imprisonment.  At  this  period  a  contest  arose  between 
all  the  authorities,  appointed  by  the  sections,  and  tlie  director}', 
supported  by  the  army,  each  taking  its  strength  and  judges 
wherever  its  party  prevailed ;  the  result  was  that  the  electoral  i)ower 
placing  itself  at  the  disposition  of  the  counter-revolution,  the  di- 
rectory was  compelled  to  introduce  the  army  in  the  state,  which 
afterward  gave  rise  to  serious  inconvenience. 

The  directory,  triumphant  over  the  two  dissident  parties,  also 
triumphed  over  Europe.  The  new  campaign  openetl  under  the 
most  favorable  auspices.  Bonaparte  on  arriving  at  Xice  signalized 
his  command  by  one  of  the  most  daring  of  invasions.  Hitherto  his 
army  had  hovered  idly  on  the  side  of  the  Alps:  it  was  destitute  of 
everything,"  and  scarcely  amounted  to  30,000  men;  but  it  was  well 
provided  with  courage  and  patriotism:  and  by  tlieir  means  Bona- 
parte then  commenced  that  world-astonishment  in  which  he  carried 
all  before  hini  for  twenty  years.  He  l)roke  up  tlie  canttMunents. 
and  entered  the  vallev  of  Savona.  in  order  to  march  into  Italy 
between  the  Alps  and  the  Apennines.  There  were  before  him 
6^.000  coalesced  troops    commanded   in   the  center  by   Argentau, 

"The  corrcspondciirc  nf  Xapdlcnn  during  tlic  campaign  in  Italy  is  eloquent 
testimony  to  the  truth  of  tliis  assertion. 


380  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1796 

by  Colli,  commander  of  the  Piedmontese  troops,  on  the  left,  and 
Beaulieu  on  the  right.  This  was  the  line  of  the  Maritime  Alps  and 
of  the  Apennines  from  Stura  to  Bochetta.  This  immense  army 
was  dispersed  in  a  few  days  by  prodigies  of  genius  and  courage. 
Napoleon  made  a  feint  of  attacking  Genoa,  thus  forcing  his  enemies 
to  strengthen  their  wings  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  center,  through 
which  he  drove  at  the  battle  of  Montenotte,  April  12,  1796,  which 
crushed  the  Austrians,  and  the  day  following,  at  Millesimo,  he 
entirely  divided  the  Sardinian  from  the  Austrian  army,  and  de- 
feated the  Piedmontese  at  Diego,  thus  achieving  the  separation 
of  the  allies.  They  hastened  to  defend  Turin  and  Milan,  the 
capitals  of  their  domination.  Before  pursuing  the  Austrians  the 
republican  general  threw  himself  on  the  left  to  cut  off  the  Sar- 
dinian army.  The  fate  of  Piedmont  was  decided  at  Mondovi, 
and  the  terrified  court  of  Turin  hastened  to  submit.  At  Cherasco 
an  amnesty  was  concluded,  which  was  soon  afterward  followed 
by  a  treaty  of  peace,  signed  at  Paris,  on  May  15,  1796,  between 
the  republic  and  the  King  of  Sardinia,  who  ceded  Savoy  and  the 
countries  of  Nice  and  Tenda.  The  occupation  of  Alexandria, 
which  opened  the  Lombard  country ;  the  demolition  of  the  for- 
tresses of  Susa  and  of  Brunette,  on  the  borders  of  France;  the 
abandonment  of  the  country  of  Nice,  and  of  the  Savoy,  and  the 
rendering  available  the  other  army  of  the  Alps,  under  Kellermann, 
was  the  reward  of  a  fortnight's  campaign  and  six  victories.  Savoy 
was  also  forced  to  pay  a  money  indemnity  and  to  engage  to  take 
no  part  in  any  league  against  France. 

War  being  over  with  Piedmont,  Bonaparte  marched  against 
the  Austrian  army,  to  which  he  left  no  repose.  He  passed  the  Po 
at  Piacenza,  May  6,  and  the  Adda  at  Lodi,  Alay  10,  1796.  The  lat- 
ter victory  opened  the  gates  of  Milan,  May  14,  and  secured  him  the 
possession  of  Lombardy.  General  Beaulieu  was  driven  into  the 
defiles  of  the  Tyrol  by  the  republican  army,  which  invested  Mantua 
(in  June)  and  appeared  on  the  mountains  of  the  empire.  General 
Wurmser  came  to  replace  Beaulieu,  and  a  new  army  was  sent  to 
join  the  wrecks  of  the  conquered  one.  Wurmser  advanced  to 
deliver  Mantua,  and  once  more  make  Italy  the  field  of  battle;  but 
he  was  overpowered,  like  his  predecessor,  by  Bonaparte,  who,  after 
having  raised  the  blockade  of  Mantua,  in  order  to  oppose  tliis  new 
enemy,  renewed  it  with  increased  vigor,  and  resumed  his  positions 
in  the  Tyrol.     The  plan  of  invasion  was  executed  with  much  union 


THE     DIRECTORY  381 

1796 

and  success.  While  the  army  of  Italy  threatened  Austria  by  the 
Tyrol,  the  two  armies  of  tlie  Meuse  and  Rhine  entered  Germany; 
Moreau,  supported  by  Jourdan  on  his  left,  was  ready  to  join  Bona- 
parte on  his  right.  The  two  armies  had  passed  the  Rhine  at 
Neuwied  and  Strasburg-,  and  had  advanced  on  a  front  drawn  up 
in  echelons  to  the  distance  of  sixty  leagues,  driving  back  tlie  enemy, 
who,  while  retreating  before  them,  strove  to  impede  their  march 
and  break  their  line.  They  had  almost  attained  the  aim  of  their 
enterprise;  Moreau  had  entered  Ulm  and  Augsburg,  crossed  the 
Lech,  and  his  advanced  guard  was  on  the  extreme  of  the  defiles  of 
the  Tyrol,  when  Jourdan,  who  had  beaten  the  Austrians  at  Alten- 
kirchen,  in  Rhenish  Prussia,  in  June,  1796,  and  then  marched  by 
way  of  Frankfort,  AWirzburg,  and  Bamberg  into  south  Germany, 
with  the  intention  of  joining  Aloreau,  who  had  crossed  the  Rhine, 
beaten  the  Archduke  Charles  at  Rastatt  and  Baden  and  at  Xer- 
scheim  in  Wurtemburg,  passed  beyond  the  line,  was  attacked  bv 
the  Archduke  Charles  and  completely  routed.  If  Jourdan  and 
]\Ioreau  could  have  united,  the  archduke  would  have  been  lost,  but 
in  his  extremity  the  Austrian  commander  performed  a  daring 
maneuver.  At  the  risk  of  allowing  Moreau  to  advance  into  Ba- 
varia and  so  unite  with  Napoleon,  who  was  expected  to  strike 
Germany  through  the  Tyrol,  the  archduke  left  only  a  small  detach- 
ment to  oppose  the  advance  of  Moreau,  and  uniting  the  bulk  of  his 
army  to  that  of  Wartensleben,  he  threw  himself  upon  Jourdan 
with  double  the  forces  of  the  French.  Jourdan  had  no  other  re- 
course but  retreat.  Rid  of  the  danger  of  Jourdan,  tlie  archduke 
turned  again  upon  Aloreau,  in  Bavaria,  who,  for  fear  o(  being  cut 
off  from  France,  was  obliged  to  retreat.  For  twenty-six  days  the 
French  fell  back  through  the  Black  lM)rest,  and  ultimately  crossed 
the  Rhine.  The  repulse  of  Jourdan  was  a  capital  one:  it  prevented 
the  success  of  this  vast  plan  of  campaign  and  gave  respite  to  tlie 
Austrian  government. 

The  cabinet  of  Vienna,  which  had  lost  Belgium  in  this  war, 
and  which  felt  the  importance  of  preserving  Italy,  defended  it  with 
tlie  greatest  obstinacy.  Wurniser,  after  a  new  defeat,  was  ()l)liged 
to  tlirow  himself  into  ]\lantua  witli  the  wreck  of  his  army.  General 
Alvinczy,  at  the  head  of  50.000  Hungarians  nnw  came  to  try  his 
fortune,  while  his  lieutenant  made  a  detour  around  the  Lake  of 
Garda,  to  the  west,  in  order  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  h^rench. 
Bonaparte  profited  by  this  division  of  Ins  enemies;  reasoning  that 


382 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1796-1797 

he  could  beat  the  two  armies  one  after  the  other,  he  raised  the 
siege  of  Alantua,  defeated  Quasdanovitch  in  two  engagements 
(July  30,  August  4,  1796),  and  then  fell  upon  Wurmser  at  Cas- 
tiglione,  before  the  two  opposing  armies  had  time  to  unite,  and 
forced  Wurmser  to  recross  the  Mincio  and  to  retire  to  the  Tyrol. 
The  French  army,  before  the  battle  of  Castiglione,  August  5,  1796, 
was  in  so  critical  a  condition  that  Napoleon  called  a  council  of  war 
— the  only  one  which  he  is  said  ever  to  have  consulted.  All  of  his 
staff,  even  Massena,  advised  a  retreat.  Augereau  alone  was  in 
favor  of  attacking  the  enemy  at  daybreak.  Napoleon,  after  listen- 
ing to  all  his  officers,  said  to  the  latter:  '^ Eh  bien!  Je  resterai 
avec  tot/'  and  dismissed  the  conference.     The  checkmate  of  Jour- 


dan  and  Moreau  in  Germany  had  enabled  Austria  to  send  rein- 
forcements to  Wurmser,  under  Alvinczy,  who  descended  the  Adige 
with  40,000  men,  while  another  general,  Provera,  with  20,000, 
planned  to  effect  a  junction  with  Wurmser,  wdio  had  returned  from 
the  Tyrol  and  been  able  to  throw  himself  into  Mantua  on  Septem- 
ber 12.  The  resulting  actions,  Arcole  (November  15-17,  1796), 
Rivoli  (January  14-15,  1797),  between  Lake  Garda  and  the  Adige, 
were  almost  decisive.  Napoleon  had  56,000  men,  not  all  of  whom 
were  available,  how^ever,  since  many  were  engaged  in  the  siege  of 
IMantua.  But  by  managing  to  keep  his  enemies  separated  from 
one  another,  Napoleon  was  enabled  to  crush  them  in  detail,  and  all 
the  efforts  of  Austria  to  relieve  Mantua  failed.  Finally,  after  hav- 
ing been  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  killing  his  horses  for  food, 
Wurmser  capitulated  on  February  2,  1797,  surrendering  Mantua 
with  13,000  prisoners  and  350  pieces  of  artillery.      It  was  this  dis- 


T  H  E     D  I  R  E  C  T  O  R  Y  383 

1797 

aster  that  opened  the  way  to  Vienna  and  forced  the  capitulation  of 
Leoben. 

The  army  of  Italy  accomplished  in  Europe  the  work  of  the 
French  Revolution.  This  wonderful  campaign  was  owing  to  the 
union  of  a  general  of  genius  and  an  intelligent  army.  Bonaparte 
had  for  lieutenants  generals  capable  of  commanding  themselves, 
who  knew  how  to  take  upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  a 
movement  or  a  battle,  and  an  army  of  citizens  all  possessing  culti- 
vated minds,  deep  feeling,  strong  emulation  of  all  that  is  great; 
passionately  attached  to  a  revolution  which  aggrandized  their 
country,  preserved  their  independence  under  discipline,  and  which 
afforded  an  opportunity  to  every  soldier  of  becoming  a  general. 
There  is  nothing  which  a  leader  of  genius  might  not  accomplish 
with  such  men.  He  must  have  regretted,  at  this  recollection  of  his 
earlier  years,  that  he  ever  centered  in  himself  all  liberty  and  intelli- 
gence, that  he  ever  created  mechanical  armies,  and  generals  only 
fit  to  obey.  Bonaparte  began  the  third  epoch  of  the  war.  The 
campaign  of  1792  had  been  made  on  the  old  system,  with  dispersed 
corps  acting  separately  without  abandoning  their  fixed  line.  The 
committee  of  public  safety  concentrated  the  corps,  made  them 
operate  no  longer  merely  on  what  was  before  them,  but  at  a  dis- 
tance; it  hastened  their  movement  and  directed  them  toward  a 
common  end.  Bonaparte  did  for  each  battle  what  the  committee 
had  done  for  each  campaign.  He  brought  all  these  C()r])s  on  the 
determinate  point,  and  destroyed  several  armies  with  a  single  one 
by  the  rapidity  of  his  measures.  He  disposed  of  whole  masses  of 
troops  at  his  pleasure,  moved  them  here  or  there,  brought  them 
forward  or  kept  them  out  of  sight,  had  them  wholly  at  his  disposi- 
tion, when,  where,  and  how  he  pleased,  whether  to  occupy  a  positii^n 
or  to  gain  a  battle.  His  diplomacy  was  as  superior  as  his  military 
science. 

Napoleon's  military  successes  are  largely  due  to  the  fact  tliat 
he  utilized  new  conditions  of  warfare  for  a  new  strategy.  He  rarely 
wasted  time  in  sieges.  He  never  made  but  two  in  his  lite,  at 
Mantua  and  at  St.  Jean  d'Acre:  he  did  not  handle  his  army  in 
separated  columns,  but  on  the  contrary  concentrated  liis  forces;  f(^r. 
as  he  savs  in  a  "Rapport  sur  la  Position  dcs  Adjiccs  d\(  Picmout  ct 
d'Espagnc,"  of  T794.  the  essential  is  n(^t  to  scatter  attacks.  Init  to 
concentrate  tlicm.  Hi^  purp'^?^'  almost  invariablv  was  to  tlirow 
all  his  forces  upon  a  given  point  ;md  break  it  through,  and  then, 


384  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

after  attacking-  the  main  army,  to  attack  and  disperse  the  wings. 
This  strategy,  of  which  Bonaparte  has  much  to  say  in  his  writings 
and  in  reported  conversations,  was  revolutionary  of  the  art  of  war, 
hitherto  grounded  upon  the  practices  of  Frederick  the  Great.  His 
four  maxims  of  warfare  were :  "  Scatter  to  forage ;  concentrate  to 
fight;  unity  of  command  is  essential;  time  is  everything." 

These  tactics  were  applied  in  Italy  in  1796- 1797,  and  Napoleon 
rarely  departed  from  them.  A  notable  exception  is  at  Marengo, 
June  14,  1800,  where  there  were  really  two  battles  fought,  the 
first,  which  Napoleon  lost,  the  second,  which  Desaix  won. 

All  the  Italian  governments,  except  Venice  and  Genoa,  had 
adhered  to  the  coalition,  but  the  people  were  in  favor  of  the  French 
republic.  Bonaparte  relied  upon  the  latter.  He  abolished  Pied- 
mont, which  he  could  not  conquer;  transformed  the  Milanese, 
hitherto  dependent  on  Austria,  into  the  Cisalpine  republic ;  he 
weakened  Tuscany  and  the  petty  principalities  of  Parma  and 
Modena  by  contributions,  without  dispossessing  them;  the  Pope, 
who  had  signed  a  truce  on  Bonaparte's  first  success  against  Beau- 
lieu,  and  who  did  not  hesitate  to  infringe  it  on  the  arrival  of 
Wurmser,  bought  peace  by  yielding  Romagna,  Bologna,  and 
Ferrara,*  which  were  joined  to  the  Cisalpine  republic;  lastly,  the 
aristocracy  of  Venice  and  Genoa  having  favored  the  coalition, 
and  raised  an  insurrection  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  their  government 
was  changed,  and  Bonaparte  made  it  democratic  in  order  to  oppose 
the  power  of  the  people  to  that  of  the  nobility.  In  this  way  the 
revolution  penetrated  into  Italy. 

Napoleon's  double  dealing  with  reference  to  Venice  is  one  of 
the  most  notorious  examples  of  his  policy.  He  flattered  the  Vene- 
tian senate  at  the  very  minute  he  was  planning  its  destruction. 
"  I  shall  do  everything  in  my  power,"  he  wrote  to  the  seignory, 
"  to  give  you  proof  of  the  great  desire  I  have  to  see  your  liberty 
take  root  and  to  see  this  unhappy  Italy,  freed  from  the  rule  of  the 
stranger,  at  length  take  its  place  with  glory  on  the  world's  stage 
and  resume  among  the  great  nations  the  rank  to  which  nature,  des- 
tiny, and  its  own  position  call  it."  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  to 
the  home  government,  on  ]May  26,  1797:  "  Venice,  which  has  been 

*  After  the  fall  of  Mantua,  the  Pope,  who  hitherto  had  been  hostile  to 
the  French,  sued  for  peace.  Napoleon  granted  it  at  Tolentino,  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  30.000,000  francs,  the  cession  of  Avignon  to  France,  and  that  of  Bologna, 
Ferrara,  Anrrjna,  and  the  entire  Romagna,  to  form  the  Cisalpine  republic, 
February  19,  1797.     Cf.  the  remarks  of  Fyffe,  "  IModern  Europe,"  pp.  135-136. 


THE     DIRECTORY  385 

1797 

in  decline  since  the  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the 
rise  of  Trieste  and  Ancona,  can  scarcely  survive  the  blows  we  have 
just  struck.  With  a  cowardly  and  helpless  population,  in  no  way 
fit  for  liberty,  without  territory  and  without  rivers,  it  is  but  natural 
that  she  should  go  to  those  to  whom  we  give  the  mainland." 

Austria,  by  the  preliminaries  of  Leoben,  ceded  Belgium  to 
France  and  recognized  the  Lombard  republic.  All  the  confederate 
pow^ers  had  laid  down  their  arms,  and  England  asked  to  treat; 
France,  peaceable  and  free  at  home,  had  without  attained  her 
natural  limits,  and  was  surrounded  by  rising  republics,  which, 
such  as  Holland,  Lombardy,  and  Liguria,  guarded  its  sides  and 
extended  its  system  in  Europe.  The  coalition  was  little  disposed 
to  assail  anew  a  revolution  all  the  governments  of  which  were 
victorious:  that  of  anarchy  after  August  lo,  of  the  dictatorship 
after  May  31,  and  of  legal  authority  under  the  directory;  a  revo- 
lution which  at  every  new  hostility  advanced  a  step  further  upon 
European  territory.  In  1792  it  had  only  extended  to  Belgium;  in 
1794  it  had  reached  Holland  and  the  Rhine;  in  1796  had  reached 
Italy  and  entered  Germany.  If  it  continued  its  progress  the  coali- 
tion had  reason  to  fear  that  it  w^ould  carry  its  concjuests  further. 
Everything  seemed  prepared  for  general  peace. 

But  the  situation  of  the  directory  was  materiallv  changed  by 
the  elections  of  the  year  V.  (May,  1797).  Tlicse  elections,  by  in- 
troducing in  a  legal  way  the  royalist  parlv  into  tlie  legislature  and 
government,  brought  again  into  questicm  what  the  conflict  of 
Vendemiaire  had  decided.  Up  to  this  period  a  good  understand- 
ing had  existed  between  the  directory  and  the  councils.  Composed 
of  conventionalists,  united  by  a  common  interest,  and  tlie  necessity 
of  establishing  the  republic,  after  having  been  blown  about  by  the 
winds  of  all  parties,  they  had  manifested  much  good  will  in  their 
intercourse,  and  much  union  in  their  measures.  The  councils  had 
vielded  to  the  various  demands  of  the  directory;  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  sligiit  modifications  tliey  had  approved  its  projects 
concernine  the  finance  and  the  administration,  its  conduct  with 
regard  to  the  conspiracies,  the  armies,  and  luiropc.  The  anti- 
conventional  minorit\-  liad  formed  an  oj)position  in  the  Ciunieils: 
but  this  opposition,  wliile  waiting  tlie  reinforcement  of  a  new  t;iir<l. 
had  but  cautiouslv  contended  against  the  policy  oi  the  directcry. 
At  its  head  were  JK-irhe-Marlx  lis.  J'asldret,  X'aublanr.  Dunias. 
Portalis,  Simeon,  Tronc^on-Ducondray,   Dupont  de  XemMur>.  n^  ^t 


386  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

of  them  members  of  the  Right  in  the  legislative  assembly,  and  some 
of  them  avowed  royalists.  Their  position  soon  became  less  equiv- 
ocal and  more  aggressive  by  the  addition  of  the  elected  of  the 
year  V. 

The  royalists  formed  a  formidable  and  active  confederation, 
having  its  leaders,  agents,  budgets,  and  journals.  They  excluded 
republicans  from  the  elections,  influenced  the  masses,  who  always 
follow  the  most  energetic  party,  and  whose  banner  they  mo- 
mentarily assume.  They  would  not  even  admit  patriots  of  the  first 
epoch,  and  only  elected  decided  counter-revolutionists  or  equivocal 
constitutionalists.  The  republican  party  was  then  placed  in  the 
government  and  in  the  army,  the  royalist  party  in  the  electoral 
assemblies  and  the  councils. 

On  the  1st  Prairial,  year  V.  (May  20),  the  two  councils 
opened  their  sittings.  From  the  beginning  they  manifested  the 
spirit  which  actuated  them.  Pichegru,  whom  the  royalists  trans- 
ferred on  to  the  new  field  of  battle  of  the  counter-revolution,  was 
enthusiastically  elected  president  of  the  council  of  the  five  hundred. 
Barbe-Marbois  ^  had  given  him,  with  the  same  eagerness,  the  presi- 
dentship of  the  elder  council.  The  legislative  body  proceeded  to 
appoint  a  director  to  replace  Le  Tourneur,  who  on  the  30th  Floreal 
had  been  fixed  on  by  ballot  as  the  retiring  member.  Their  choice 
fell  on  Barthelemy,  the  ambassador  to  Switzerland,  whose  mod- 
erate views  and  attachment  to  peace  suited  the  councils  and  Europe, 
but  who  w^as  scarcely  adapted  for  the  government  of  the  republic, 
owing  to  his  absence  from  France  during  all  the  revolution. 

These  first  hostilities  against  the  directory  and  the  conven- 
tional party  w^ere  followed  by  more  actual  attacks.  Its  administra- 
tion and  policy  were  now  attacked  without  scruple.  The  directory 
had  done  all  it  had  been  able  to  do  by  a  legal  government  in  a  situ- 
ation still  revolutionary.  It  was  blamed  for  continuing  the  war 
and  for  the  disorder  of  the  financial  department.  The  legislative 
majority  skillfully  turned  its  attention  to  the  public  wants;  it  sup- 
ported the  entire  liberty  of  the  press,  which  allowed  journalists  to 
attack  the  directory,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  anotlier  system ;  it 
supported  peace  because  it  would  lead  to  the  disarming  of  the 
republic,  and  lastly,  it  supported  economy. 

•"  Barbe-Marhois  was  secretary  of  the  Frencli  legation  in  the  United  States 
during  the  American  Revohition.  He  rose  to  the  position  of  minister  of  finance 
under  Napoleon,  who  intrusted  to  him  the  negotiations  cuhiiinating  in  the  sale 
of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States  during  the  administration  of  Jefferson. 


T  H  E     D  I  R  E  C  T  O  R  Y  387 

1797 

These  demands  were  in  one  sense  useful  and  national.  France 
was  weary  and  felt  the  need  of  all  these  things  in  order  to  complete 
its  social  restoration;  accordingly,  the  nation  half  adopted  the 
views  of  the  royalists,  but  from  entirely  different  motives.  It  saw 
with  rather  more  anxiety  the  measures  adopted  by  the  councils 
relative  to  priests  and  emigrants.  A  pacification  was  desired;  but 
the  nation  did  not  wish  that  the  conquered  foes  of  the  revolution 
should  return  triumphant.  The  councils  passed  the  laws  with 
regard  to  them  with  great  precipitation.  They  justly  abolished 
the  sentence  of  transportation  or  imprisonment  against  priests  for 
matters  of  religion  or  incivism ;  but  they  wished  to  restore  the 
ancient  prerogatives  of  their  form  of  worship ;  to  render  Ca- 
tholicism, already  reestablished,  outwardly  manifest  by  the  use 
of  bells,  and  to  exempt  priests  from  the  oath  of  public  functionaries. 
Camille  Jordan,  a  young  Lyonnese  deputy,  full  of  eloquence  and 
courage,  but  professing  unreasonable  opinions,  was  the  principal 
panegyrist  of  the  clergy  in  the  younger  council.  The  speech  which 
he  delivered  on  this  subject  excited  great  surprise  and  violent  oppo- 
sition. The  little  enthusiasm  that  remained  was  still  entirely 
patriotic,  and  all  were  astonished  at  witnessing  the  revival  of  an- 
other enthusiasm,  that  of  religion:  the  last  century  and  the  revolu- 
tion had  made  men  entirely  unaccustomed  to  it,  and  prevented  them 
from  understanding  it.  This  was  the  moment  when  the  old  party 
revived  its  creed,  introduced  its  language,  and  mingled  them  with 
the  creed  and  language  of  the  reform  party,  which  had  hitherto 
prevailed  alone.  Tlie  result  was,  as  is  usual  with  all  that  is 
unexpected,  an  unfavorable  and  ridiculous  impression  against  Ca- 
mille Jordan,  who  was  nicknamed  "  Jordan-Carillon.  Jordan-les- 
Cloches."  The  attempt  of  the  i)r()tcct(»rs  of  the  clergy  did  not, 
however,  succeed:  and  the  council  of  five  hundred  did  not  venture 
as  yet  to  pass  a  decree  for  the  use  of  bells  or  to  make  the  priests 
independent.  After  some  hesilatiiMi  the  moderate  party  joined  the 
directorial  partv  and  supported  the  civic  oath  with  cries  of  "  I'iz'C 
la  rcpuhliquc! " 

Meantime  hostilities  continued  against  the  directory,  espe- 
cially in  the  council  of  five  hundred,  which  was  more  zealous  and 
impatient  than  that  of  the  ancients.  All  this  greatly  emboldened 
the  royalist  faction  in  the  interior.  The  oninter-rcvolntionary  re- 
])risals  against  tlie  i^itriots  and  those  who  had  ac(|nirod  nati.Mial 
property  were  rcnew.'d.     Immigrant  and  dissentiem  priests  returned 


388  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

in  crowds,  and  being  unable  to  endure  anything  savoring  of  the 
revokition,  they  did  not  conceal  their  projects  for  its  overthrow. 
The  directorial  authority,  threatened  in  the  center  and  disowned 
in  the  departments,  became  wholly  powerless. 

But  the  necessity  of  defense,  the  anxiety  of  all  men  who  were 
devoted  to  the  directory,  and  especially  to  the  revolution,  gave 
courage  and  support  to  the  government.  The  aggressive  progress 
of  the  councils  brought  their  attachment  to  the  republic  into  sus- 
picion; and  the  mass,  which  had  at  first  supported,  now  forsook 
them.  The  constitutionalists  of  1791  and  the  directorial  party 
formed  an  alliance.  The  club  of  Salm,  established  under  the 
auspices  of  this  alliance,  was  opposed  to  the  club  of  Clichy,  which 
for  a  long  time  had  been  the  rendezvous  of  the  most  influential 
members  of  the  councils.  The  directory,  while  it  had  recourse  to 
opinion,  did  not  neglect  its  principal  force — the  support  of  the 
troops.  It  brought  near  Paris  several  regiments  of  the  army  of 
the  Sambre-et-Meuse,  commanded  by  Hoche.  The  constitutional 
radius  of  six  myriametres  (twelve  leagues),  which  the  troops  could 
not  legally  pass,  was  violated;  and  the  councils  denounced  this 
violation  to  the  directory,  which  feigned  an  ignorance,  wholly  dis- 
believed, and  made  very  weak  excuses. 

The  two  parties  were  watching  each  other.  One  had  its  posts 
at  the  directory,  at  the  club  of  Salm,  and  in  the  army ;  the  other,  in 
the  councils,  at  Clichy,  and  in  the  salons  of  the  royalists.  The 
mass  were  spectators.  Each  of  the  two  parties  was  disposed  to  act 
in  a  revolutionary  manner  toward  the  other.  An  intermediate 
constitutional  and  conciliatory  party  tried  to  prevent  the  struggle, 
and  to  bring  about  a  union,  which  was  altogether  impossible. 
Carnot  was  at  its  head :  a  few  members  of  the  younger  council, 
directed  by  Thibaudeau,  and  a  tolerably  large  number  of  the 
ancients,  seconded  his  projects  of  moderation.  Carnot,  who  at 
that  period  was  the  director  of  the  constitution,  with  Barthelemy, 
who  was  the  director  of  the  legislature,  formed  a  minority  in  the 
government.  Carnot,  very  austere  in  his  conduct  and  very  obstinate 
in  his  views,  could  not  agree  either  with  Barras  or  with  the  imperi- 
ous Rewbel.  To  this  opposition  of  character  was  then  added 
difference  of  system.  Barras  and  Rewbel,  supported  by  La  Re- 
veillere,  were  not  at  all  averse  to  a  coup  d'etat  against  the  coun- 
cils, while  Carnot  wished  strictly  to  follow  the  law.  This  great 
citizen,  at  each  epoch  of  the  revolution,  had  perfectly  seen  the  mode 


1797 


T  H  E     D  I  R  E  C  T  O  11  Y  389 


of  government  which  suited  it,  and  his  opinion  immediately  became 
a  fixed  idea.  Under  the  committee  of  pubhc  safety  the  dictator- 
ship was  his  fixed  system,  and  under  the  directory,  legal  govern- 
ment. Recognizing  no  difference  of  situation,  he  found  himself 
placed  in  an  equivocal  position ;  he  wished  for  peace  in  a  moment 
of  war;  and  for  law,  in  a  moment  of  coups  d'etat. 

The  councils,  alarmed  at  the  preparations  of  the  directory, 
seemed  to  make  the  dismissal  of  a  few  ministers,  in  whom  they 
placed  no  confidence,  the  price  of  reconciliation.  These  were  Mer- 
lin de  Douai,  the  minister  of  justice;  Lacroix,  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  and  Ramel,  minister  of  finance.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
desired  to  retain  Petiet  as  minister  of  war,  Bcnesech  as  minister  of 
the  interior,  and  Cochon  de  I'Apparent  as  minister  of  police.  The 
legislative  body  in  default  of  directorial  power  wished  to  make 
sure  of  the  ministry.  Far  from  falling  in  with  this  wish,  which 
would  have  introduced  the  enemy  into  the  government,  Rewbel, 
La  Reveillere,  and  Barras  dismissed  the  ministers  i)rotected  by  the 
councils,  and  retained  the  others.  Benesech  was  replaced  by  Fran- 
gois  de  Xeufchateau,  Petiet  by  Iloche,  and  soon  afterward  by 
Scherer;  Cochon  de  FApparent  by  Lenoir-Laroche.  and  Lenoir- 
Laroche,  who  had  too  little  decision,  by  Sotin.  Tallevrand  like- 
wise formed  part  of  this  ministry.  He  had  l)een  struck  off  the  list 
of  emigrants  from  the  close  of  the  conventional  session,  as  a  revo- 
lutionist of  1 791,  and  his  great  sagacity,  whicli  always  placed  him 
with  the  party  having  the  greatest  hope  <u'  victory,  made  him  at 
this  period  a  directorial  republican.  He  l.cld  tlie  portfolio  of 
Lacroix,  and  he  contributed  very  much  by  his  counsels  and  his 
daring  to  the  events  of  Fructidor. 

War  now  appeared  more  and  more  inevitable.  The  directory 
did  not  wish  for  a  reconciliation,  which,  at  the  best,  would  only 
have  postponed  its  downfall  and  that  of  the  republic  to  the  electi()ns 
of  the  3'ear  \l.  It  caused  threatening  addresses  against  the  coun- 
cils to  be  sent  from  the  armies.  Bonaj)arte  had  watched  with  an 
anxious  eve  the  events  wliich  were  preparing  in  Paris.  Though 
intimate  witli  Carnot.  and  corrcs])on(ling  (hrcctly  wiili  him.  he  had 
sent  Lavalette,  his  aide-de-camp,  to  fin-ni<h  him  with  an  account 
of  the  divisions  in  tlie  governmoiU.  and  tiie  intrigues  and  conspira- 
cies with  wliich  it  was  bc^et.  Px-najjartc  had  |iromiscd  the  directory 
the  support  of  b.is  army  in  case  of  .actual  danger.  He  scut 
iVugereau  to  Paris  with  addresses    fr(>m    liis    troop.- 


390  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

royalists !  "  said  the  soldiers.  "  From  the  Adige  to  the  Seine  is  but 
a  step.  Tremble !  Your  iniquities  are  numbered ;  and  their  recom- 
pense is  at  the  end  of  our  bayonets." — "  We  have  observed  with 
indignation,"  said  the  staff,  "  the  intrigues  of  royalty  threatening 
liberty.  By  the  manes  of  the  heroes  slain  for  our  country,  we  have 
sworn  implacable  war  against  royalty  and  royalists.  Such  are  our 
sentiments ;  they  are  yours,  and  those  of  all  patriots.  Let  the 
royalists  show  themselves,  and  their  days  are  numbered."  The 
councils  protested,  but  in  vain,  against  these  deliberations  of  the 
army.  General  Richepanse,  who  commanded  the  troops  arrived 
from  the  army  of  the  Sambre-ct-Meuse,  stationed  them  at  Ver- 
sailles, Meudon,  and  Vincennes. 

The  councils  had  been  assailants  in  Prairial,  but  as  the  success 
of  their  cause  might  be  put  off  to  the  year  VL,  when  it  might  take 
place  without  risk  or  combat,  they  kept  on  the  defensive  after 
Thermidor  (July,  1797).  They,  however,  then  made  every  prep- 
aration for  the  contest;  they  gave  orders  that  the  constitutional 
circles  should  be  closed,  with  a  view  to  getting  rid  of  the  club  of 
Salm ;  they  also  increased  the  powers  of  the  commission  of  inspec- 
tors of  the  hall,  which  became  the  government  of  the  legislative 
body,  and  of  which  the  two  royalist  conspirators,  Willot  and 
Pichegru,  formed  part.  The  guard  of  the  councils,  which  was 
under  the  control  of  the  directory,  was  placed  under  the  immediate 
orders  of  the  inspectors  of  the  hall.  At  last,  on  the  17th  Fructidor, 
the  legislative  body  thought  of  procuring  the  assistance  of  the 
militia  of  Vendemiaire,  and  it  decreed,  on  the  motion  of  Pichegru, 
the  formation  of  the  national  guard.  On  the  following  day,  the 
1 8th  (September  4,  1797),  this  measure  was  to  be  executed,  and 
the  councils  were  by  a  decree  to  order  the  troops  to  remove  to  a 
distance.  They  had  reached  a  point  that  rendered  a  new  victory 
necessary  to  decide  the  great  struggle  of  the  revolution  and  the 
ancient  system.  The  impetuous  General  Willot  wislied  them  to 
take  the  initiative,  to  decree  the  impeachment  of  the  three  directors, 
Barras,  Rewbel,  and  La  Reveillere;  to  cause  the  other  two  to  join 
the  legislative  body ;  if  the  government  refused  to  obey,  to  sound 
the  tocsin,  and  march  with  the  old  sectionaries  against  the  direc- 
tory; to  place  Pichegru  at  tlie  head  of  this  legal  insurrection,  and 
to  execute  all  these  measures  promptly,  boldly,  and  at  midday. 
Pichegru  is  said  to  have  hesitated  ;  and  the  opinion  of  tlie  undecided 
prevailing,  the  tardy  course  of  legal  preparations  was  adopted. 


1797  ^^^'     l^IRECTORY  391 

It  was  not,  however,  the  same  with  the  directory.  Barras, 
Rewbel,  and  La  Reveillere  determined  instantly  to  attack  Carnot, 
Barthelemy,  and  the  legislative  majority.  The  morning  of  the  i8th 
was  fixed  on  for  the  execution  of  this  coup  d'etat.  During  the 
night^  the  troops  encamped  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paris  entered 
the  city  under  the  command  of  Augercau.  It  was  the  design  of 
the  directorial  triumvirate  to  occupy  the  Tuileries  with  troops 
before  the  assembling  of  the  legislative  body,  in  order  to  avoid  a 
violent  expulsion ;  to  convoke  the  councils  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Luxembourg,  after  having  arrested  their  principal  leaders,  and 
by  a  legislative  measure  to  accomplish  a  coup  d'etat  begun  by  force. 
It  was  in  agreement  with  the  minority  of  the  councils  and  relied 
•on  the  approbation  of  the  mass.  The  troops  readied  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  at  one  in  the  morning  and  spread  themselves  over  the  (|uavs, 
the  bridges,  and  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  before  long  12,000  men 
and  forty  pieces  of  cannon  surnnmded  the  Tuileries.  At  four 
o'clock  the  alarm-shot  was  fired,  and  Augereau  presented  himself 
at  the  gate  of  the  Pont  Tournant. 

The  guard  of  the  legislative  body  was  under  arms.  The  in- 
spectors of  the  hall,  apprised  the  night  before  of  the  movement  in 
preparation,  had  repaired  to  the  national  palace  (the  Tuileries)  to 
defend  the  entrance.  Ramel,  commander  of  the  legislative  guard, 
was  devoted  to  the  councils,  and  he  had  static nicd  his  800  grena- 
diers in  the  different  avenues  of  the  garden,  shut  in  by  gates.  Ikit 
Pichegru,  Willot,  and  Ramel  could  not  resist  the  directory  with 
this  small  and  uncertain  force.  Augereau  had  no  need  even  to 
force  the  passage  of  the  Pont  Tournant :  as  soon  as  he  came  before 
the  grenadiers  he  cried  out:  "Are  you  republicans?"  The  latter 
lowered  their  arms  and  replied:  "  I'iz'c  Aw^crcau!  Viz'c  la  dircc- 
foiref"  and  joined  him.  Augereau  traversed  the  garden,  entered 
the  hall  of  the  councils,  arrested  Pichegru.  Willot,  Ramel,  and 
all  the  inspectors  of  the  hall,  and  had  them  conveyed  to  the 
Temple. 

The  members  of  the  councils,  convoked  in  lia^^le  by  the  inspec- 
tors, repaired  in  crowds  to  their  place  of  sitting;  but  they  were 
arrested  or  refused  admittance  by  the  armed  force.  Augereau  an- 
nounced to  them  that  the  directory,  urged  by  the  necessity  of  de- 
fending the  republic  from  the  cons])irators  among  them,  had 
assigned  the  Odcon  and  the  School  of  Medicine  for  the  i)lace  of 
their  sittings.   The  greater  part  of  the  deputies  present  exclaimed 


39^  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

against  military  violence  and  the  dictatorial  usurpation,  but  they 
were  obliged  to  yield. 

At  six  in  the  morning  this  expedition  was  terminated.  The 
people  of  Paris  on  waking  found  the  troops  still  under  arms,  and 
the  walls  placarded  with  proclamations  announcing  the  discovery 
of  a  formidable  conspiracy.  The  people  were  exhorted  to  observe 
order  and  confidence.  The  directory  had  printed  a  letter  of  Gen- 
eral Moreau,  in  which  he  announced  in  detail  the  plots  of  his  pred- 
ecessor Pichegru  with  the  emigrants,  and  another  letter  from  the 
Prince  de  Conde  to  Imbert  Colonies,  a  member  of  the  ancients. 
The  entire  population  remained  quiet ;  a  mere  spectator  of  an  event 
brought  about  without  the  interference  of  parties,  and  by  the 
assistance  of  the  army  only,  it  displayed  neither  approbation  nor 
regret. 

The  directory  felt  the  necessity  of  legalizing,  and  more 
especially  of  terminating,  this  extraordinary  act.  As  soon  as  the 
members  of  the  five  hundred  and  of  the  ancients  were  assembled  at 
the  Odeon  and  the  School  of  Medicine  in  sufficient  numbers  to 
debate,  they  determined  to  sit  permanently.  A  message  from  the 
directory  announced  the  motive  which  had  actuated  all  its  meas- 
ures. "  Citizens  legislators,"  ran  the  message,  "  if  the  directory 
had  dela3^ed  another  day,  the  republic  would  have  been  given  up  to 
its  enemies.  The  very  place  of  your  sittings  was  the  rendezvous 
of  the  conspirators ;  from  there  they  yesterday  distributed  their 
plans  and  orders  for  the  distribution  of  arms ;  from  there  they  cor- 
responded last  night  with  their  accomplices;  lastly,  from  there,  or 
in  the  neighborhood,  they  again  endeavored  to  raise  clandestine 
and  seditious  assemblies,  which  the  police  at  this  moment  is  em- 
ployed in  dispersing.  We  should  have  compromised  the  public 
welfare,  and  that  of  its  faithful  representatives,  had  we  suffered 
them  to  remain  confounded  with  the  foes  of  the  country  in  the  den 
of  conspiracy."  The  younger  council  appointed  a  commission, 
composed  of  Sieyes,  Poulain-Granpre,  Villers,  Chazal,  and  Boulay 
de  la  Meurthe,  deputed  to  present  a  law  of  public  safety.  The  law 
was  a  measure  of  ostracism ;  only  transportation  was  substituted  for 
the  scaffold  in  this  second  revolutionary  and  dictatorial  period. 

The  members  of  the  five  hundred  sentenced  to  transportation 
were :  Aubri,  J.  J.  Aime,  Bayard,  Blain,  Boissy  d'Anglas,  Borne, 
Bourdon  de  I'Oise,  Cadroy,  Coucher}%  Delahaye,  Delarue,  Dou- 
mcre,   Dumolard,   Duplantier,    Gibert,    Desmolieres,    Henri   la   Ri- 


,797  ^^^     DIRECTORY  393 

viere,  Imbert  Colomes,  Camille  Jordan,  Jourdan  (des  Bouches  du 
Rhone)  Gall,  La  Carriere,  Lemarchand-Gomicoiirt,  Lemerer,  Mer- 
san,  Madier,  Maillard,  Noailles,  Andre,  Alac-Cartin,  Pavie,  Pas- 
toret,  Pichegru,  Polissard,  Prairie-AIontand,  Quatremere-Quency, 
Saladin,  Simeon,  Vauvilliers,  Vienot-Vaublan'c,  Villaret-Joyeiisei 
Willot.  In  the  council  of  ancients:  Barbc-Marbois,  Dumas,  Fer- 
raud-Vaillant,  Lafond-Ladebat,  Laumont,  Aluriare,  Murinais, 
Paradis,  Portalis,  Rovere,  Trongon-Ducoudray.  In  the  directory: 
Carnot  and  Barthelemy.  They  also  condemned  the  Abbe  Broth ier. 
La  Villeheurnois,  Dunan,  ex-minister  of  police  Cochon ;  ex-agent 
of  the  police  Dossonville,  Generals  Miranda  and  Morgan:  the 
journalist,  Suard;  the  ex-conventionalist  Mailhe;  and  the  comman- 
der Ramel.  A  few  of  the  proscribed  succeeded  in  evading  the 
decree  of  exile;  Carnot  was  among  the  number.  Most  of  them 
were  transported  to  Cayenne,  but  a  great  many  did  not  leave  the 
Isle  of  Re.  . 

The  directory  greatly  extended  this  act  of  ostracism.  The 
publishers  of  thirty-five  journals  were  included  in  the  sentence  of 
transportation.  It  wished  to  strike  at  once  all  tiie  avenues  of  the 
republic  in  the  councils,  in  the  press,  in  the  electoral  assemblies,  the 
departments,  in  a  word,  wherever  they  had  introduced  themselves. 
The  elections  of  forty-eight  departments  were  annulled,  the  laws 
in  favor  of  priests  and  emigrants  were  revoked,  and  soon  after- 
ward the  disappearance  of  all  who  had  swayed  in  the  departments 
since  the  9th  Thermidor  raised  the  spirits  of  the  cast-down  repub- 
lican party.  The  coup  d'etat  of  hYuctidor  was  not  ])urc1y  central: 
like  the  victory  of  Vendemiaire,  it  ruined  the  royalist  jxirty.  which 
had  only  been  repulsed  by  the  preceding  defeat.  But.  by  again 
replacing  the  legal  government  by  the  dictatorship,  it  rendered 
another  revolution  necessary,  of  which  we  shall  presently  speak. 

We  may  say  that  on  the  i8th  Fructidor  of  the  Year  V.  it  was 
necessary  that  the  directory  should  triumph  o\er  the  counter-revo- 
lution by  decimating  the  councils:  or  that  the  coinicils  should 
triumph  over  the  republic  by  overthrowing  tlie  directory.  Tlie 
question  thus  stated,  it  remains  to  in(|uirc.  ilrst,  if  tlic  directory 
could  have  conquered  by  any  other  means  than  a  c<)i(p  d'etat ;  second, 
whether  it  misused  its  victory." 

The  government  had  not  the  pr)wcr  of  dissolving  the  councils. 

*  Upon    tlic    18th    Fructidor,    sec   T.anfrcy.    "Life   of    Napoleon."    vol.    I.    pp. 
211-232;  Fyffc,  '■Modern  Europe,"  vol.    1.  pp.   1.4.5-152. 


39*  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

At  the  termination  of  a  revolution,  whose  object  was  to  estabhsh 
the  extreme  Right,  they  were  unable  to  invest  a  secondary  author- 
ity with  the  control  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and  in  certain 
cases  to  make  the  legislature  subordinate  to  the  directory.  This 
concession  of  an  experimental  policy  not  existing,  what  means 
remained  to  the  directory  of  driving  the  enemy  from  the  heart  of 
the  state?  No  longer  able  to  defend  the  revolution  by  virtue  of 
the  law,  it  had  no  resource  but  the  dictatorship;  but  in  having 
recourse  to  that,  it  broke  the  conditions  of  its  existence ;  and  while 
saving  the  revolution,  it  soon  fell  itself. 

As  for  its  victory,  it  sullied  it  with  violence  by  endeavoring 
to  make  it  too  complete.  The  sentence  of  transportation  was  ex- 
tended to  too  many  victims ;  the  petty  passions  of  men  mingled  with 
the  defense  of  the  cause,  and  the  directory  did  not  manifest  that 
reluctance  to  arbitrary  measures  which  is  the  only  justification  of 
coups  d'etat.  To  attain  its  object  it  should  have  exiled  the  leading 
conspirators  only ;  but  it  rarely  happens  that  a  party  does  not  abuse 
the  dictatorship,  and  that,  possessing  the  power,  it  believes  not  in 
the  dangers  of  indulgence.  The  defeat  of  the  i8th  Fructidor 
was  the  fourth  of  the  Royalist  party ;  two  took  place  in  order  to  dis- 
possess it  of  power,  those  of  July  14  and  August  10;  two  to  pre- 
vent its  resuming  it,  those  of  the  13th  Vendemiaire  and  i8th 
Fructidor.  This  repetition  of  powerless  attempts  and  protracted 
reverses  did  not  a  little  contribute  to  the  submission  of  this  party 
under  the  consulate  and  the  empire. 


Chapter    XV 

FALL  OF  THE  DIRECTORY 
SEPTEMBER  5,  1797-NOVEMBER  10,  1799 

THE  chief  result  of  the  i8th  Fructiclor  was  a  return,  with 
slight  mitigation,  to  the  revolutionary  government.  The 
two  ancient  privileged  classes  were  again  excluded  from 
society;  the  dissentient  priests  were  again  banished.  The  Chouans 
and  former  fugitives,  who  occupied  the  field  of  battle  in  the  depart- 
ments, abandoned  it  to  the  old  republicans :  those  who  had  formed 
part  of  the  military  household  of  the  Bourbons,  the  superior  officers 
of  the  crown,  the  members  of  the  parlements,  commanders  of  the 
order  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  Saint  Louis,  the  Knights  of  Malta, 
all  those  who  had  protested  against  the  abolition  of  nobility,  and 
who  had  preserved  its  titles,  were  to  quit  the  territory  of  the  re- 
public. The  ci-devant  nobles,  or  those  ennobled,  could  only  enjoy 
the  rights  of  citizens,  after  a  term  of  seven  years,  and  after  having 
gone  through  a  sort  of  apprenticeship  as  Frenchmen.  This  party 
by  desiring  sway  restored  the  dictatorship. 

At  this  period  the  directory  attained  its  maximum  of  power; 
for  some  time  it  had  no  enemies  in  arms.  Delivered  from  all 
internal  opposition,  it  imposed  the  continental  peace  on  Austria  by 
the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio  (October,  1797),  and  on  the  empire 
by  the  congress  of  Rastatt.  The  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of 
Campo-Formio  included  the  following :  ( i )  Austria  ceded  Belgium 
to  France.  (2)  In  return  for  this  cession  France  gave  Austria  the 
conquered  territory  of  Venice,  wnth  Istria  and  Dalmatia,  but  retain- 
ing (3)  the  Ionian  Islands.  (4)  Austria  recognized  the  Cisalpine 
republic,  and  (5)  agreed  to  the  cession  of  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine  from  Basel  to  Andernach  with  free  French  navigation  of 
the  river.  (6)  A  congress  to  be  called  at  Rastatt  was  to  settle  the 
details  of  this  peace.  It  was  understood,  just  as  in  the  treaty  of 
1795,  that  the  losing  Rhine  princes  were  to  receive  indemnification 
in  Germany  for  secularization,  and  there  was  a  secret  agreement 
that  France  was  to  use  her  influence  at  the  conference  to  secure  to 
Austria  Salzburg  and  the   Bavarian   Tyrol,   in   order  to   increase 

39.5 


S96  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

Austria's  new  acquisitions  of  territory  as  much  as  those  of  Prussia 
and  Russia  through  the  partition  of  Poland. 

The  events  in  Italy  gave  a  new  face  to  things.  To  the  just 
demands  and  legitimate  reprisals  made  in  the  beginning  of  the  war 
were  added  the  conquest  and  exploitation  of  a  conquered  country. 
By  arbitrarily  distributing  the  territory  of  Venice,  Istria,  and  Dal- 
matia,  the  directory  set  the  bad  example  of  this  traffic  in  nations 
since  but  too  much  followed.  Besides,  the  Austrian  dominion 
would  sooner  or  later  extend  in  Italy,  through  this  imprudent  ces- 
sion of  Venice,  To  France,  war  had  become  both  a  means  of  exist- 
ence and  a  source  of  profit.  The  armies  increased  the  depleted 
resources  of  the  directory  and  hence  had  acquired  an  enormous 
influence  in  the  state.  Military  service,  by  reason  of  its  profits  and 
its  excitement,  had  ceased  to  be  the  fulfillment  of  a  patriotic  duty, 
and  had  become  a  profession  all  too  cynically  pursued.  The  corre- 
spondence between  the  directory  and  Napoleon  affords  ample  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  this  statement. 

The  coalition  of  1792  and  1793  was  dissolved;  England  was 
the  only  remaining  belligierent  power.  The  cabinet  of  London  was 
not  at  all  disposed  to  cede  to  France,  which  it  had  attacked,  in  the 
hope  of  weakening  it,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Porentruy,  Nice, 
Savoy,  the  protectorate  of  Piedmont,  Genoa,  Milan,  and  Holland. 
But  finding  it  necessary  to  appease  the  English  opposition,  and 
reorganize  its  means  of  attack,  it  made  propositions  of  peace ;  it 
sent  Lord  Malmesbury  as  plenipotentiary,  first  to  Paris,  then  to 
Lille.  But  the  offers  of  Pitt  not  being  sincere,  the  directory  did 
not  allow  itself  to  be  deceived  by  his  diplomatic  stratagems.  The 
negotiations  were  twice  broken  off,  and  war  continued  between  the 
two  powers.  While  England  negotiated  at  Lille,  she  was  preparing 
at  St.  Petersburg  the  triple  alliance,  or  second  coalition.^ 

^England  was  the  soul  of  the  coalition.  Upon  the  Continent  she  supported 
the  war  by  subsidies  furnished  to  the  enemies  of  France.  On  sea  she  blockaded 
the  French  ports  and  preyed  upon  French  commerce,  besides  seizing  the  French 
colonies  of  the  Antilles,  and  the  Dutch  colonies  in  the  East  Indies ;  after  the 
naval  defeats  of  St.  Vincent  (February  14,  1797),  and  Camperdown  (October  11. 
1797)  French  sea-power  was  annihilated,  and  the  directory  was  forced  to  have 
recourse  to  other  means  of  retaliation.  The  most  notable  of  these  was  Frcncli 
encouragement  of  the  rebellion  in  Ireland  between  1796  and  1798.  In  December, 
1796,  Iloche  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  land  in  Ireland,  being  prevented 
by  contrary  winds.  A  new  attempt  was  made  in  1797,  when  1500  men  were 
landed  in  Ireland  under  General  Humbert;  but  within  twelve  days  Humbert 
was  obliged  to  capitulate,  and  the  whole  Irish  enterprise  ended  in  failure 
(September  3). 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  397 

1797 

The  directory,  on  their  side,  without  finances,  without  any 
party  in  the  interior,  having  no  support  but  the  army,  and  no  emi- 
nence save  that  derived  from  the  continuation  of  its  victories,  was 
not  in  a  condition  to  consent  to  a  general  peace.  It  had  increased 
the  pubHc  discontent  by  the  estabHshment  of  certain  taxes  and  the 
reduction  of  the  debt  to  a  consoHdated  third,  payable  in  specie  only, 
which  had  ruined  the  fundholders.  It  became  necessary  to  maintain 
itself  by  war.  The  immense  body  of  soldiers  could  not  be  dis- 
banded without  danger.  Besides,  being  deprived  of  its  power  and 
being  placed  at  the  mercy  of  Europe,  the  directory  had  attempted  a 
thing  never  done  without  creating  a  shock,  except  in  times  of  great 
tranquillity,  of  great  ease,  abundance,  and  employment.  The  direc- 
tory was  driven  by  its  position  to  the  invasion  of  Switzerland 
and  the  expedition  into  Egypt. 

Bonaparte  had  then  returned  to  Paris.  The  conqueror  of 
Italy  and  the  pacificator  of  the  Continent  was  received  with  enthusi- 
asm, constrained  on  the  part  of  the  directory,  but  deeply  felt  by  the 
people.  Honors  were  accorded  him  never  yet  obtained  by  any  gen- 
eral of  the  republic.  A  patriotic  altar  was  prepared  in  the  Luxem- 
bourg, and  he  passed  under  an  arch  of  standards  won  in  Italy  on 
his  way  to  the  triumphal  ceremony  in  his  honor.  He  was  harangued 
by  Barras,  president  of  the  directory,  who,  after  congratulating 
him  on  his  victories,  invited  him  to  crown  so  noble  a  life  by  a  con- 
quest which  the  great  country  owed  to  its  insulted  dignity.  This 
was  the  conquest  of  England.  Everytliing  seemed  in  preparation 
for  a  descent,  while  the  invasion  of  Egypt  was  really  the  enterprise 
in  view. 

Such  an  expedition  suited  both  Bonaparte  and  the  directory. 
The  independent  conduct  of  that  general  in  Italy,  his  ambition, 
which,  from  time  to  time,  burst  through  his  studied  simplicity, 
rendered  his  presence  dangerous.  He,  on  his  side,  feared  by  his 
inactivity  to  compromise  the  already  high  opinion  entertained  of 
his  talents :  for  men  always  require  from  those  whom  they  make 
great  more  than  they  are  able  to  perform.  Thus,  while  the  direc- 
tory saw  in  the  expedition  to  Egypt  the  means  of  keeping  a  for- 
midable general  at  a  distance,  and  a  prospect  of  attacking  the 
English  by  India,  Bonaparte  saw  in  it  a  gigantic  conception,  an 
employment  suited  to  his  taste,  and  a  new  means  of  astonishing 
mankind.  Napoleon's  Egs'ptian  campaign,  like  the  futile  attack 
upon  Ireland,  was  made  with  the  intention  of  overcoming  the  sea- 


398  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1797 

power  of  England  by  indirect  means.  Fantastic  as  the  scheme 
seems  at  first  glance,  it  is  an  error  so  to  consider  it,  for  it  really 
has  a  direct  connection  with  the  traditional  policy  of  France  in  the 
eastern  Mediterranean  and  in  Asia.  In  the  first  place,  there  was 
hope  of  founding  in  Egypt  a  new  French  colony,  and  through  it 
entirely  to  dominate  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  where  for  cen- 
turies France  had  had  so  many  interests.  Secondly,  there  was 
a  possibility,  in  this  event,  of  Egypt  being  made  the  basis  of  opera- 
tions against  the  English  in  India,  not  only  in  a  military  way,  but 
in  a  commercial  as  well.  Even  if  this  latter  portion  of  the  project 
should  prove  unsuccessful.  Napoleon  felt  sure,  owing  to  the  weak 
condition  of  the  Turkish  empire,  of  being  able  to  flank  Europe  in 
the  southeast.  Those  who  so  desire  may  attach  whatever  im- 
portance they  wish  to  the  idea  ascribed  to  Napoleon  that  he  was 
emulous  of  the  career  of  Alexander  the  Great.  He  sailed  from 
Toulon  on  the  30th  Floreal,  in  the  year  VI.  (May  19,  1798),  with 
a  fleet  of  four  hundred  sail  and  a  portion  of  the  army  of  Italy ;  he 
steered  for  Malta,  of  which  he  made  himself  master,  and  thence 
to  Egypt.^ 

The  directory,  who  violated  the  neutrality  of  the  Ottoman 
Porte  in  order  to  attack  the  English,  had  already  violated  that  of 
Switzerland  in  order  to  expel  the  emigrants  from  its  territory. 
French  opinions  had  already  penetrated  into  Geneva  and  the  Pays 
de  Vaud;  but  the  policy  of  the  Swiss  confederation  was  counter- 
revolutionary, from  the  influence  of  the  aristocracy  of  Berne.  They 
had  driven  from  the  cantons  all  the  Swiss  who  had  shown  them- 
selves partisans  of  the  French  republic.  Berne  was  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  emigrants,  and  it  w^as  there  that  all  the  plots  against  the 
revolution  were  formed.  The  directory  complained,  but  did  not 
receive  satisfaction.  The  Vaudois,  placed  by  old  treaties  under 
the  protection  of  France,  invoked  her  help  against  the  tyranny  of 
Berne.  This  appeal  of  the  Vaudois,  its  own  grievances,  its  desire 
to  extend  the  directorial  republican  system  to  Switzerland,  much 
more  than  the  temptation  of  seizing  the  little  amount  of  treasure 
in  Berne,  as  some  have  reproached  it  with,  determined  the  di- 
rectory.    Some  conferences  took  place,  which  led  to  no  result,  and 

-  In  sailing  from  Toulon  Napoleon  had  been  fortunate  in  avoiding  the  fleet 
of  Nelson,  which  was  on  watch  for  his  own,  but  which  had  been  obliged  to 
put  to  sea  on  account  of  heavy  weather.  Malta  was  the  property  of  the  Knights 
of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  and  was  occupied  on  June  10.  The  French  fleet 
dropped  anchor  in  Aboukir  Bay  on  July  2. 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  S99 

1798 

war  began.  The  Swiss  defended  themselves  with  much  courage 
and  obstinacy,  and  hoped  to  resuscitate  the  times  of  their  ancestors, 
but  eventually  succumbed.  Geneva  was  united  to  France,  and 
Switzerland  exchanged  its  ancient  constitution  for  that  of  the  year 
in.  From  that  time  two  parties  existed  in  the  confederation,  one 
of  which  was  for  France  and  the  revolution,  the  other  for  the 
counter-revolution  and  Austria.  Switzerland  ceased  to  be  a  com- 
mon barrier,  and  became  the  high  road  of  Europe. 

The  portion  of  Switzerland  annexed  to  France  made  two  de- 
partments: Mulhausen  and  the  bishopric  of  Basel  formed  the 
department  of  Mont  Terrible;  the  canton  of  Geneva  was  formed 
into  the  department  of  Leman.  This  annexation  was  made  between 
April  and  August,  1798.  In  the  conquest  of  Switzerland  the  di- 
rectory had  made  a  pretext  of  an  insurrection  of  the  Vaudois 
against  the  aristocratic  senate  of  Berne.  A  democratic  revolution 
was  urged  on  in  Zurich,  Lucerne,  and  Schaffhausen,  which  resulted 
in  a  revolutionary  diet  being  convened  which  promulgated  a  demo- 
cratic constitution  modeled  upon  that  of  France  on  April  12,  1798. 
Switzerland  has  itself  to  blame,  in  some  degree,  however,  for  this 
overthrow. 

This  revolution  had  been  followed  by  that  of  Rome.  General 
Duphot  was  killed  at  Rome  in  a  riot;  and  in  punishment  of  this 
assassination,  which  the  pontifical  government  had  not  interfered 
to  prevent,  Rome  was  changed  into  a  republic.  At  Rome  Rossignol 
and  other  Jacobins,  secretly  backed  by  the  French  minister,  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  instigated  the  Roman  population,  already  discontented 
owing  to  the  heavy  taxes  imposed  upon  them  as  the  result  of  the 
Treaty  of  Tolentino,  to  rebellion.  General  Duphot  was  killed  in  a 
riot  on  December  28,  1797.  This  was  a  pretext  for  intervention. 
The  directory  sent  General  Bertliier  to  Rome  with  18,000  men, 
who  proclaimed  the  Roman  republic  on  l^""ebruary  15,  1798.  The 
new  republican  government  was  an  absurd  revival  of  classical 
forms.  The  directors  were  called  consuls,  the  divisions  of  the 
Roman  legislature  were  known  as  the  senate  and  the  tribunate,  and 
the  civil  and  criminal  courts  of  justice  respectively  known  as  the 
proctorship  and  the  qusestorship.  A  demand  had  been  made  upon 
the  Pope  to  renounce  his  temporal  power,  and  when  this  was 
refused  the  Vatican  was  occupied  by  l-'rench  troops,  the  Pope  him- 
self being  exiled  beyond  the  Alps  to  Valence,  wliere  he  died  in  the 
next  year.     All  this  combined  to  complete  the  system  of  the  direc- 


400  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1798 

tory  and  make  it  preponderant  in  Europe;  it  was  now  at  the  head 
of  the  Helvetian,  Batavian,  Ligurian,  Cisalpine,  and  Roman  re- 
publics, all  constructed  on  the  same  model.  The  conquest  of 
Belgium  had  been  a  stepping-stone  to  that  of  Holland.  During 
the  severe  winter  of  1794  Pichegru  had  been  able  to  drag  his 
artillery  along  the  frozen  canals  of  Holland  and  had  entered 
Amsterdam  on  January  20,  1795.  The  capture  of  the  Dutch  fleet 
ojET  the  Texel  followed.  The  stadtholder,  William  V.,  fled  to  Eng- 
land, whereupon  the  revolutionary  party  in  Holland  proclaimed  the 
Batavian  republic  and  signed  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  France  on 
May  16,  1795.  This  treaty  guaranteed  France  the  possession  of 
Dutch  Flanders,  with  Maestricht,  the  right  of  maintaining  garri- 
sons at  important  points,  free  navigation  of  the  rivers  of  Holland 
and  access  to  its  ports,  and  a  war  indemnity  of  one  hundred  millions. 
But  while  the  directory  extended  its  influence  abroad,  it  was  again 
menaced  by  internal  parties. 

The  elections  of  Floreal  in  the  year  VI.  (May,  1798)  were 
by  no  means  favorable  to  the  directory;  the  returns  were  quite  at 
variance  with  those  of  the  year  V.  Since  the  i8th  Fructidor  the 
withdrawal  of  the  counter-revolutionists  had  restored  all  the  influ- 
ence of  the  exclusive  republican  party,  which  had  reestablished  the 
clubs  under  the  name  of  Constitutional  Circles.  This  party  domi- 
nated in  the  electoral  assemblies,  which,  most  unusually,  had  to 
nominate  437  deputies,  298  for  the  council  of  five  hundred,  139 
for  that  of  the  ancients.  When  the  elections  drew  near  the  direc- 
tory exclaimed  loudly  against  the  anarchists.  But  its  proclamations 
having  been  unable  to  prevent  democratic  returns,  it  decided  upon 
annulling  them  in  virtue  of  a  law  by  which  the  councils,  after  the 
1 8th  Fructidor,  had  granted  it  the  power  of  judging  the  operations 
of  the  electoral  assemblies.  It  invited  the  legislative  body  by  a 
message  to  appoint  a  commission  of  five  members  for  that  purpose. 
On  the  22d  Floreal  the  elections  were  for  the  most  part  annulled. 
At  this  period  the  directorial  party  struck  a  blow  at  the  ex- 
treme republicans,  as  nine  months  before  it  had  aimed  at  the 
royalists. 

The  directory  wished  to  maintain  the  political  balance  which 
had  been  the  characteristic  of  its  first  two  years ;  but  its  position 
was  much  changed.  Since  its  last  coup  d'etat  it  could  no  longer 
be  an  impartial  government,  because  it  was  no  longer  a  constitu- 
tional government.     W'ith  these  pretensions    of    isolation,  it  dis- 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  401 

1798 

satisfied  everyone.  Yet  it  lived  on  in  this  way  till  the  elections  of 
the  year  VII.  It  displayed  much  activity,  but  an  activity  of  a  nar- 
row and  shuffling  nature.  Merlin  de  Douai  and  Treilhard,  who 
had  replaced  Carnot  and  Barthelemy,  were  two  political  lawyers. 
Rewbel  had  in  the  highest  degree  the  courage  without  having  the 
enlarged  views  of  a  statesman.  La  Reveillere  was  too  much  occu- 
pied with  the  act  of  the  theophilanthropists  for  a  government 
leader.  As  to  Barras,  he  continued  his  dissipated  life  and  his  direc- 
torial regency ;  his  palace  was  the  rendezvous  of  gamesters,  women 
of  gallantry,  and  stock-jobbers  of  every  kind.  The  administration 
of  the  directors  betrayed  their  character,  but  more  especially  their 
position,  to  the  embarrassments  of  which  was  added  war  with  all 
Europe. 

While  the  republican  plenipotentiaries  were  yet  negotiating 
for  peace  with  the  empire  at  Rastatt,  the  second  coalition  began 
the  campaign.  The  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio  had  only  been  for 
Austria  a  suspension  of  arms.  England  had  no  difficulty  in  gain- 
ing her  to  a  new  coalition;  with  the  exception  of  Spain  and  Prussia, 
most  of  the  European  powers  formed  part  of  it.  The  subsidies  of 
the  British  cabinet,  and  the  attraction  of  the  west,  decided  Russia ; 
the  Porte  and  the  states  of  Barbary  acceded  to  it  because  of  the 
invasion  of  Egypt;  the  empire,  in  order  to  recover  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine,  and  the  petty  princes  of  Italy,  that  they  might  destroy 
the  new  republics.  At  Rastatt  they  were  discussing  the  treaty 
relative  to  the  empire,  the  concession  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
the  navigation  of  that  river,  and  the  demolition  of  some  fortresses 
on  the  right  bank,  when  the  Russians  entered  Germany,  and  the 
Austrian  army  began  to  move.  The  French  plenipotentiaries,  taken 
by  surprise,  received  orders  to  leave  in  twenty- four  hours;  they 
obeyed  immediately,  and  set  out,  after  having  obtained  safe  con- 
duct from  the  generals  of  the  enemy.  At  a  short  distance  from 
Rastatt  they  were  stopped  by  some  Austrian  hussars,  who,  having 
satisfied  themselves  as  to  their  names  and  titles,  assassinated  them ; 
Bonnier  and  Riberjot  were  killed;  Jean  Debry  was  left  for  dead. 
This  unheard-of  violation  of  tlie  right  of  nations,  this  premeditated 
assassination  of  three  men  invested  with  a  sacred  cliaracter,  excited 
general  horror.  The  legislative  body  declared  war,  and  declared 
it  with  indignation  against  the  governments  on  whom  the  guilt  of 
this  enormous  crime  fell. 

Plostilities  had  already  commenced  in  Italy  and  on  the  Rhine. 


402  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1798 

The  directory,  apprised  of  the  march  of  the  Russian  troops,  and 
suspecting  the  intentions  of  Austria,  caused  the  councils  to  pass  a 
law  for  recruiting.  The  military  conscription  placed  200,000 
young  men  at  the  disposal  of  the  republic.  This  law,  which  was 
attended  with  incalculable  consequences,  was  the  result  of  a  more 
regular  order  of  things.  Levies  eti  masse  had  been  the  revolution- 
ary service  of  the  country;  the  conscription  became  the  legal 
service.^ 

The  most  impatient  of  the  powers,  those  which  formed  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  coalition,  had  already  commenced  the  at- 
tack. The  King  of  Naples  had  advanced  on  Rome,  and  the  King 
of  Sardinia  had  raised  troops  and  threatened  the  Ligurian  republic. 
As  they  had  not  sufficient  power  to  sustain  the  shock  of  the  French 
armies,  they  were  easily  conquered  and  dispossessed.  The  Aus- 
trian General  Mack,  whom  the  military  experts  of  the  coalition 
regarded  as  the  ablest  commander  in  Europe,  had  forced  the  French 
to  evacuate  Rome  on  November  29,  1798,  but  receiving  immediate 
reinforcements,  General  Championet  recovered  the  city  on  Decem- 
ber 15,  and  having  reestablished  French  rule  there  marched  upon 
Naples,  which  was  easily  taken  and  the  Parthenopean  republic  was 
proclaimed  January  23,  1799.  General  Joubert  occupied  Turin, 
and  the  whole  of  Italy  was  in  the  hands  of  the  French  when  the 
new  campaign  began. 

The  coalition  was  superior  to  the  republic  in  effective  force  and 
in  preparation.  It  attacked  it  by  the  three  great  openings  of  Italy, 
Switzerland,  and  Holland.  It  planned  to  furnish  360,000  men,  of 
which  240,000  were  contributed  by  Austria,  being  thus  distributed: 
85,000  commanded  by  the  Archduke  Charles  in  Bavaria  and  upon 
the  upper  Danube;  25,000  under  Marshal  Hotze  in  the  Vorarlberg; 
45,000  under  Bellegarde  in  the  Tyrol;  75,000  with  ^Marshal  Kray 
on  the  banks  of  the  Adige  River.  In  addition  there  were  40,000 
Russians  under  Suvarov.  whose  instructions  were  to  unite  with 
Kray ;  30,000  with  Korsakov,  who  was  to  occupy  the  Lake  of  Con- 

"  The  law  of  the  conscription  was  voted  on  September  5,  i7q8.  in  compliatice 
with  a  report  rendered  by  Jourdan.  Every  Frenchman  between  twenty  and 
twenty-five  years  of  age  was  required  to  do  miHtary  service.  Tlie  five  years 
formed  five  classes.  There  was  no  exemption  except  for  physical  infirmity.  This 
is  the  third  form  practiced  with  reference  to  the  recruiting  of  the  French  army 
since  the  revolution  began.  In  1791-1792  there  were  voluntary  enrollments.  In 
1793  the  process  was  technically  requisition,  not  conscription.  Only  in  1799  was 
conscription  adopted.     The  first  call  was  for  200,000  men. 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  403 

1799 

Stance,  while  30,000  English  and  Russians  were  to  operate  in  Hol- 
land and  20,000  English  and  Russians  in  south  Italy.  The  directory- 
put  170,000  men  in  the  field,  divided  into  five  armies:  the  army  of 
Holland,  under  General  Brune,  10,000  men;  the  army  of  Germany, 
under  Jourdan,  40,000;  the  army  of  Massena  in  Switzerland, 
30,000;  that  of  Italy,  under  Scherer,  50,000;  and  that  of  Naples, 
under  Macdonald,  30,000.  The  line  of  battle  was  1500  miles  long. 
A  strong  Austrian  army  debouched  in  the  duchy  of  Mantua,  and 
was  soon  joined  by  the  bizarre  and  hitherto  victorious  Suvarov. 
Scherer  was  repulsed  near  Verona  and  at  Legnano  (April  5,  1799). 
In  his  retreat  he  abandoned  the  lines  of  the  Mincio  and  the  Oglio, 
and  retired  behind  the  Adda  in  order  to  protect  Milan.  Moreau 
replaced  Scherer,  and  was  beaten  at  Cassano  and  forced  to  take 
refuge  in  the  territory  between  the  Po  and  the  Tanaro,  He  re- 
treated toward  Genoa  in  order  to  keep  the  barrier  of  the  Apennines 
and  to  join  the  army  of  Naples,  commanded  by  Macdonald,  which 
was  overpowered  at  Trebbia.  The  battle  of  the  Trebbia  was  a 
three-days'  engagement  (June  17-19,  1799),  in  which  the  French 
lost  half  of  their  army,  or  15,000  men.  Nevertheless,  by  frightful 
exertions,  Macdonald  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Apennines  and  unit- 
ing the  fragments  of  his  army  to  that  of  Moreau  in  Genoa. 

The  Austro-Russians  then  directed  their  chief  forces  upon 
Switzerland.  Jourdan  had  crossed  the  Rhine  on  March  i  and 
pushed  into  the  region  of  the  upper  Danube,  but  had  suffered  a  de- 
feat on  March  22  at  the  hands  of  the  Archduke  Charles,  at  Ostrach 
and  three  days  later  another  at  Stockach,  which  forced  him  to  re- 
cross  the  Rhine.  At  the  same  time  Massena  had  attempted  to 
drive  the  Austrian  out  of  Switzerland,  and  had  penetrated  the  val- 
ley of  the  Inn  River,  but  was  forced  to  retire  upon  the  appearance 
of  the  victorious  Archduke  Charles,  and  was  not  even  able  to  hold 
Zurich,  which  was  evacuated  early  in  June.  The  Duke  of  York 
had  landed  in  north  Holland  on  August  26,  and  after  seizing  the 
Dutch  fleet,  had  beaten  Brune  on  the  Zip,  September  10.  The 
small  republics  which  protected  France  were  invaded,  and  a  few 
more  victories  would  liave  enabled  the  confederates  to  penetrate 
even  to  the  scene  of  the  revolution. 

In  the  midst  of  these  military  disasters  and  the  discontent  of 
parties  the  election  of  the  I'lorcal  in  the  Year  VII.  (May,  1799) 
took  place;  they  were  republican,  like  those  of  the  preceding  year. 
The  directory  was  no  longer  strong  enough  to  contend  with  public 


404.  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

misfortunes  and  the  rancor  of  parties.  The  retirement  of  Rewbel, 
who  was  replaced  by  Sieyes,  caused  it  to  lose  the  only  man  able  to 
face  the  storm,  and  brought  into  its  bosom  the  most  avowed  antag- 
onists of  this  compromised  and  worn-out  government.  Hitherto 
the  victories  of  the  armies  had  obscured  the  rottenness  of  the  direc- 
tory, but  now  that  defeat  was  staring  France  in  the  face  the  direc- 
tory was  discredited.  After  the  elections  of  Floreal,  the  directory, 
feeling  that  "  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before,"  proposed 
an  annullment  of  a  portion  of  the  elections.  The  proposal  was  met 
by  the  demands  of  the  moderate  party  and  extreme  republicans 
for  an  account  of  the  internal  and  external  situation  of  the  re- 
public. The  councils  sat  permanently.  Barras  abandoned  his  col- 
leagues. The  fury  of  the  councils  was  directed  solely  against 
Treilhard,  Merlin,  and  La  Reveillere,  the  last  supports  of  the  old 
directory.  They  deposed  Treilhard  because  an  interval  of  a  year 
had  not  elapsed  between  his  legislative  and  his  directoral  functions, 
as  the  constitution  required.  The  ex-minister  of  justice,  Gohier, 
was  immediately  chosen  to  replace  him. 

The  orators  of  the  councils  then  warmly  attacked  Merlin  and 
La  Reveillere,  whom  they  could  not  dismiss  from  the  directory.  The 
threatened  directors  sent  a  justificatory  message  to  the  councils 
and  proposed  peace.  On  the  30th  Prairial  the  republican  Bertrand 
(du  Calvados)  ascended  the  tribune,  and  after  examining  the  offers 
of  the  directors  exclaimed :  "  You  have  proposed  union ;  and  I  pro- 
pose that  you  reflect  if  you  yourselves  can  still  preserve  your  func- 
tions. If  you  love  the  republic  you  will  not  hesitate  to  decide.  You 
are  incapable  of  doing  good;  you  will  never  have  the  confidence  of 
your  colleagues,  that  of  the  people  or  that  of  the  representatives, 
without  which  you  cannot  cause  the  laws  to  be  executed.  I  know 
that,  thanks  to  the  constitution,  there  already  exists  in  the  directory 
a  majority  which  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the  people  and  that  of 
the  national  representation.  Why  do  you  hesitate  to  introduce 
unanimity  of  desires  and  principles  between  the  two  first  authorities 
of  the  republic?  You  have  not  even  the  confidence  of  those  vile 
flatterers  who  have  dug  your  political  tomb.  Finish  your  career 
by  an  act  of  devotion,  which  good  republican  hearts  will  be  able 
to  appreciate.'' 

2vlerlin  and  La  Reveillere,  deprived  of  the  support  of  the  gov- 
ernment by  the  retirement  of  Rewbel,  the  dismissal  of  Treilhard, 
and  the  desertion  of  Barras,  urged  by  the  councils  and  by  patriotic 


FALL    OF    THE     DIRECTORY  405 

1799 

motives,  yielded  to  circumstances  and  resigned  the  directorial  au- 
thority. This  victory  gained  by  the  republican  and  moderate  par- 
ties combined  turned  to  the  profit  of  both.  The  former  introduced 
General  Moulins  into  the  directory ;  the  latter  Roger  Ducos.  The 
30th  Prairial  (June  18),  which  witnessed  the  breaking  up  of  the 
old  government  of  the  year  III.,  was  an  act  of  reprisal  on  the  part 
of  the  councils  against  the  directory  for  the  i8th  Fructidor  and  the 
22d  Floreal.  At  this  period  the  two  great  powers  of  the  state  had 
each  in  turn  violated  the  constitution :  the  directory  by  decimating 
the  legislature,  the  legislature  by  expelling  the  directory.  This 
form  of  government,  which  every  partv  complained  of,  could  not 
have  a  protracted  existence, 

Sieyes  after  the  success  of  the  30th  Prairial  labored  to  destroy 
what  yet  remained  of  the  government  of  the  year  IIL,  in  order  to 
establish  the  legal  system  on  another  plan.  He  was  whimsical  and 
systematic;  but  he  had  the  faculty  of  judging  surely  of  situations. 
He  reentered  upon  the  scene  of  the  revolution  at  a  singular  epoch 
with  the  intention  of  strengthening  it  by  a  definitive  constitution. 
After  having  cooperated  in  the  principal  changes  of  1789  by  his 
motion  of  June  17,  which  transformed  the  states-general  into  a 
national  assembly,  and  by  his  plan  of  internal  organization,  which 
substituted  departments  for  provinces,  he  had  remained  passive  and 
silent  during  the  subsequent  interval.  He  waited  till  the  period  of 
public  defense  should  again  give  place  to  institutions.  Appointed 
under  the  directory  to  the  embassy  at  Berlin,  the  neutrality  of  Prus- 
sia was  attributed  to  his  efforts.  On  his  return  he  accepted  the 
office  of  director,  hitherto  refused  by  him  because  Rewbel  was 
leaving  the  government,  and  he  thought  that  parties  were  suffi- 
ciently weary  to  undertake  a  definitive  pacification  and  the  establish- 
ment of  liberty.  With  this  object  he  placed  his  reliance  on  Roger 
Ducos  in  the  directory,  on  the  council  of  ancients  in  the  legislature, 
and  without  on  the  mass  of  moderate  men  and  the  middle  class, 
who  after  desiring  laws  merely  as  a  novelty  now  desired  repose  a^ 
a  novelty.  This  party  sought  for  a  strong  and  secure  government, 
which  should  have  no  past,  no  enmities,  and  which  thenceforward 
might  satisfy  all  opinions  and  interests.  As  all  that  had  been  done 
from  July  14  till  the  9th  Thermidor  by  the  people  in  connection 
with  a  part  of  the  government  had  been  done  since  the  13th  Ven- 
demiaire  by  the  soldiers,  Sieyes  was  in  want  of  a  general.  He  cast 
his  eyes  upon  Joubert,  who  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  army  of 


406  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

Italy,  in  order  that  he  might  gain  by  his  victories  and  by  the  dehver- 
ance  of  Italy  a  great  political  importance. 

The  constitution  of  the  year  III.  was,  however,  still  supported 
by  the  two  directors,  Gohier  and  Moulins,  the  council  of  five  hun- 
dred, and  without  by  the  party  of  Manege.  The  decided  republi- 
cans had  formed  a  club  that  held  its  sittings  in  that  hall  where  had 
sat  the  first  of  the  assemblies.  The  new  club,  formed  from  the 
remains  of  that  of  Salm,  before  the  i8th  Fructidor;  of  that  of  the 
Pantheon,  at  the  beginning  of  the  directory ;  and  of  the  old  society 
of  the  Jacobins,  enthusiastically  professed  republican  principles, 
but  not  the  democratic  opinions  of  the  inferior  class.  Each  of  these 
parties  also  had  a  share  in  the  ministry,  which  had  been  renewed 
at  the  same  time  as  the  directory.  Cambaceres  had  the  department 
of  justice ;  Quinette,  the  home  department ;  Reinhard,  who  had  been 
temporarily  placed  in  office  during  the  ministerial  interregnum  of 
Talleyrand,  was  minister  of  foreign  affairs;  Robert  Lindet  was 
minister  of  finance,  Bourbon  (de  Vatry)  of  the  navy,  Bernadotte, 
of  war;  Bourguignon,  soon  afterward  replaced  by  Fouche  (of 
Nantes),  of  police. 

This  time  Barras  remained  neutral  between  the  two  divisions 
of  the  legislature,  of  the  directory,  and  of  the  ministry.  Seeing  that 
matters  were  coming  to  a  more  considerable  change  than  that  of 
the  30th  Prairial,  he,  an  ex-noble,  thought  that  the  decline  of  the 
republic  would  lead  to  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  and  he 
treated  with  the  pretender,  Louis  XVIII.  It  seems  that  in  nego- 
tiating the  restoration  of  the  monarchy  by  his  agent,  David  Mon- 
nier,  he  was  not  forgetful  of  himself.  Barras  espoused  nothing 
from  conviction  and  always  sided  with  the  party  which  had  the 
greatest  chance  of  victory.  A  democratic  member  of  the  Mountain 
on  May  31,  a  reactionist  Mountainist  on  the  9th  Thermidor,  a 
revolutionary  director  against  the  loyalists  on  the  i8th  Fructidor, 
extreme  republican  director  against  his  old  colleagues  on  the  30th 
Prairial,  he  now  became  a  royalist  director  against  the  government 
of  the  year  III. 

The  faction  disconcerted  by  the  i8th  Fructidor  and  the  peace 
of  the  continent  had  also  gained  courage.  The  military  successes 
of  the  new  coalition,  the  law  of  compulsory  loans  and  that  of  host- 
ages, which  had  compelled  every  emigrant  family  to  give  guaran- 
tees to  government,  had  made  the  royalists  of  the  south  and  west 
again  take  up  arms.    Tliey  reappeared  in  bands,  which  daily  became 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  407 

1799 

more  formidable,  and  revived  the  petty  but  disastrous  v^^arfare  of 
the  Chouans.  They  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Russians  and  looked 
forward  to  the  speedy  restoration  of  the  monarchy.  This  was  a 
moment  of  fresh  competition  with  every  party.  Each  aspired  to 
the  inheritance  of  the  dying  constitution,  as  they  had  done  at  the 
close  of  the  convention.  In  France  people  are  warned  by  a  kind  of 
political  odor  that  a  government  is  dying,  and  all  parties  rush  to  be 
in  at  the  death. 

Fortunately  for  the  republic,  the  war  changed  its  aspect  on  the 
two  principal  frontiers  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Rhine.  The  allies, 
after  having  acquired  Italy,  wished  to  enter  France  by  Switzerland 
and  Holland ;  but  Generals  Massena  and  Brune  arrested  their  hith- 
erto victorious  progress.  Massena  advanced  against  Korsakov  and 
Suvarov.  During  twelve  days  of  great  combinations  and  consec- 
utive victories,  hastening  in  turns  from  Constance  to  Zurich,  he 
repelled  the  efforts  of  the  Russians,  forced  them  to  retreat,  and  dis- 
organized the  coalition.  Brune  won  the  victories  of  Bergen  (Sep- 
tember 19),  Alkmaar  (October  2),  and  Castricum  (October  6). 
The  Duke  of  York,  whose  army  had  been  reduced  by  disease  and 
battle,  capitulated  on  October  18.  French  fortune  was  favored  by 
dissension  among  tlie  allies.  Paul  I.  of  Russia  had  no  mind  to  have 
his. army  used  as  a  catspaw  of  Vienna,  and  neither  the  Austrian  of- 
ficers nor  soldiers  got  along  well  with  Russians.  The  Austrian 
government  tried  to  mend  matters  by  arranging  that  the  Russians 
should  have  a  clear  field  in  Switzerland,  leaving  Italy  and  Ger- 
many to  its  own  armies.  It  was  a  false  move,  militarily  speaking, 
by  which  Massena  profited.  His  position  was  a  very  precarious  one, 
for  he  had  been  caught  between  the  army  of  the  Archduke  Charles 
on  the  north  and  the  united  armies  of  Korsakov  and  Suvarov  on  the 
east  and  south.  But  the  new  order  from  Vienna  forbade  Charles  to 
move  farther  in  Switzerland,  and  Massena  was  able  to  slip  away  be- 
fore the  Russians  could  overtake  him.  When  Korsakov  made  the 
attempt  to  capture  the  French  in  Zurich  he  lost  13,000  men,  a  good 
one-half  of  his  troops  (September  25).  and  was  obliged  to  beat  a 
hasty  retreat  to  the  Rliine,  so  hasty  indeed  that  he  abandoned  his 
baggage  and  one  hundred  pieces  of  artillery.  Meantime  Suvarov 
had  crossed  the  Saint  Gbthard  in  the  hope  of  making  a  flank  move- 
ment against  the  French,  whom  he  expected  to  find  hard  pressed  by 
the  Russians,  but  the  ill  luck  of  his  lieutenant  embarrassed  him,  and 
he  was  forced  to  fight  a  costly,  though  not  losing,  battle  on  Septem- 


408  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

ber  26.  At  last,  after  fearful  privations  and  having  suffered  enor- 
mous losses,  Suvarov  succeeded  in  making  his  way  into  Bavaria. 
But  furious  at  the  discomfiture  of  his  best  general,  Paul  I.  withdrew 
from  the  coalition.  France  had  lost  Italy,  but  still  retained  Switzer- 
land and  Holland,  and  the  peril  of  invasion  had  vanished.  The 
army  of  Italy  alone  had  been  less  fortunate.  It  had  lost  its  general, 
Joubert,  killed  at  the  battle  of  Novi  while  leading  a  charge  on  the 
Austro-Russians.  But  this  frontier,  which  was  at  a  distance  from 
the  center  of  action,  despite  the  defeat  of  Novi,  was  not  crossed, 
and  Championet  ably  defended  it.  It  was  soon  to  be  repassed  by 
the  republican  troops,  who,  after  each  resumption  of  arms,  having 
been  for  a  moment  beaten,  soon  regained  their  superiority  and 
recommenced  their  victories.  Europe  by  giving  additional  exercise 
to  the  military  power,  by  its  repeated  attacks,  rendered  it  each  time 
more  triumphant. 

But  at  home  nothing  was  changed.  Divisions,  discontent,  and 
anxiety  were  the  same  as  before.  The  struggle  between  the  mod- 
erate republicans  and  the  extreme  republicans  had  become  more 
determined.  Sieyes  pursued  his  projects  against  the  latter.  In  the 
Champs  de  Mars  on  August  10  he  assailed  the  Jacobins.  Lucien 
Bonaparte,  who  had  much  influence  in  the  council  of  five  hundred, 
from  his  character,  his  talents,  and  the  military  importance  of  the 
conqueror  of  Italy  and  Egypt,  drew  in  that  assembly  a  fearful  pic- 
ture of  the  reign  of  terror,  and  said  that  France  was  threatened  with 
its  return.  About  the  same  time  Sieyes  caused  Bernadotte  to  be 
dismissed,  and  Fouche,  in  concert  with  him,  closed  the  meetings  of 
the  Manege.  The  multitude,  to  whom  it  is  only  necessary  to  pre- 
sent the  phantom  of  the  past  to  inspire  it  with  fear,  sided  wuth  the 
moderate  party,  dreading  the  return  of  the  reign  of  terror ;  and  the 
extreme  republicans  failed  in  their  endeavor  to  declare  the  country  in 
danger,  as  they  had  done  at  the  close  of  the  legislative  assembly. 
But  Sieyes,  after  having  lost  Joubert,  sought  for  a  general  who 
could  enter  into  his  designs  and  who  would  protect  the  republic 
without  becoming  its  oppressor.  Hoche  had  been  dead  more  than 
a  year.  Moreau  had  given  rise  to  suspicion  by  his  equivocal  con- 
duct to  the  directory  before  the  i8th  Fructidor  and  by  the  sudden 
denunciation  of  his  friend  Pichegru,  whose  treason  he  had  kept 
secret  for  a  whole  year ;  Massena  was  not  a  political  general ;  Berna- 
dotte and  Jourdan  were  devoted  to  the  party  of  the  Manege ;  Sieyes 
was  compelled  to  postpone  his  scheme  for  want  of  a  suitable  agent. 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  409 

1799 

Bonaparte  had  learned  in  the  east  from  his  brother  Lucien  and 
a  few  other  friends  the  state  of  affairs  in  France  and  the  decHne  of 
the  directorial  g-overnment.  His  expedition  had  been  brilliant,  but 
without  results.  The  Battle  of  the  Pyramids  was  fought  July  21, 
1798,  and  was  followed  by  the  French  occupation  of  Cairo.  Desaix 
pursued  Mourad-Bey  southward  and  defeated  him  at  the  battle  of 
Sediman,  October  7,  but  he  managed  to  escape  into  Upper  Egypt. 

Napoleon  left  Egypt  late  in  January,  1799,  with  13,000  men, 
and  after  traversing  the  Mediterranean  seaboard  began  the  siege  of 
Saint  Jean  d'Acre  on  March  19.  For  sixty  days  the  combined 
troops  of  England  and  Turkey  resisted  every  effort  of  the  French. 
On  May  20  Napoleon  gave  it  up.  It  was  the  second  siege  and  the 
last  he  ever  attempted,  and  was  of  decisive  importance.  He  never 
forgot  the  humiliation  he  experienced  at  Acre,  and  was  wont  to 
allude  to  it  as  "  that  miserable  hole  which  came  between  me  and  my 
destiny.""* 

The  failure  of  the  siege  of  Saint  Jean  d'Acre  compelled  Na- 
poleon to  return  to  his  first  conquest.  There,  after  defeating  an 
Ottoman  army  on  the  coast  of  Aboukir,  so  fatal  to  the  French  fleet 
the  preceding  year,""  when  Nelson  had  gained  the  victory  in  the  Bat- 
tle of  the  Nile,  he  decided  on  leaving  that  land  of  exile  and  fame  in 
order  to  turn  the  new  crisis  in  France  to  his  own  elevation. 
Napoleon  had  been  left  for  months  in  the  east  without  information 
or  instructions  from  the  directory,  too  much  engaged  in  its  own 
affairs  to  watch  over  the  interests  of  its  general.  He  now  learned 
of  the  political  situation  in  France  through  some  French  newspapers 
which  were  sent  to  him  by  Sir  Sidney  Smith,  the  English  com- 
mander, during  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  He  left  General  Kleber 
to  command  the  army  of  the  east  and  crossed  the  Mediterranean, 
then  covered  with  Englisli  ships,  in  a  frigate.  He  disembarked  at 
Frejus  on  the  7th  Vcndemiaire,  year  VHI.  (October  9,  1799), 
nineteen  days  after  the  battle  of  Bergen,  gained  by  Brune  over 
the  Anglo-Russians  under  the  Duke  of  York,  and  fourteen  days 
after  that  of  Zurich,  gained  by  ]\Iassena  over  the  Austro-Russians 
under  Korsakov  and  Suvarov.  He  traversed  France,  from  the 
shore  of  the  Alediterranean  to  Paris,  in  triumph.  His  expedition, 
almost  fabulous,  had  struck  the  public  mind  with  surprise  and  had 

■*  For  the   famous   massacre   of  the  prisoners   at  Jaffa  by   Napoleon   consult 
Ropes,  "  Napoleon,"  and  l^anfrey,  "  Life  of  Napoleon,"  who  give  opposite  views. 
-'  Fought  on  August  i,  1798. 


410  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

Still  more  increased  the  great  renown  he  had  acquired  by  the  con- 
quest of  Italy.  These  two  enterprises  had  raised  him  above  all  the 
other  generals  of  the  republic.  The  distance  of  the  theater  upon 
which  he  had  fought  enabled  him  to  begin  his  career  of  independ- 
ence and  authority.  A  victorious  general,  an  acknowledged  and 
obeyed  negotiator,  a  creator  of  republics,  he  had  treated  all  interests 
with  skill,  all  creeds  with  moderation.  Preparing  afar  off  his  ambi- 
tious destiny,  he  had  not  made  himself  subservient  to  any  system, 
and  had  managed  all  parties  so  as  to  work  his  elevation  with  their 
assent.  He  had  entertained  this  idea  of  usurpation  since  his  vic- 
tories in  Italy,  On  the  i8th  Fructidor,  had  the  directory  been  con- 
quered by  the  councils,  he  purposed  marching  against  the  latter  with 
his  army  and  seizing  the  protectorate  of  the  republic.  After  the 
1 8th  Fructidor,  finding  the  directory  too  powerful  and  the  inactivity 
of  the  continent  too  dangerous  for  him,  he  accepted  the  expedition 
to  Egypt,  that  he  might  not  fall  and  might  not  be  forgotten.  At 
the  news  of  the  disorganization  of  the  directory,  on  the  30th  Prai- 
rial,  he  repaired  with  haste  to  the  scene  of  events. 

His  arrival  excited  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moderate  masses  of 
the  nation.  He  received  general  congratulations  and  every  party 
contended  for  his  favor.  Generals,  directors,  deputies,  and  even 
the  republicans  of  the  Manege  waited  on  and  tried  to  sound  him. 
Fetes  and  banquets  were  given  in  his  honor.  His  manners  were 
grave,  simple,  cool,  and  observing;  he  had  already  a  tone  of  con- 
descending familiarity  and  involuntary  habits  of  command.  Not- 
withstanding his  want  of  earnestness  and  openness,  he  had  an  air 
of  self-possession,  and  it  was  easy  to  read  in  him  an  afterthought 
of  conspiracy.  Without  uttering  his  design,  he  allowed  it  to  be 
guessed;  because  a  thing  must  always  be  expected  in  order  to  be 
accomplished.  He  could  not  seek  supporters  in  the  republicans  of 
the  Manege,  as  they  neither  wished  for  a  coup  d'etat  nor  for  a  dic- 
tator; and  Sieyes  justly  feared  that  he  was  too  ambitious  to  fall  in 
with  his  constitutional  views;  accordingly  Sieyes  hesitated  to  open 
his  mind  to  him,  but,  urged  by  their  mutual  friends,  they  at  length 
met  and  concerted  together.  On  the  15th  Brumaire  they  determined 
on  their  plan  of  attack  on  the  constitution  of  the  year  III.  Sieyes 
undertook  to  prepare  the  councils  by  the  commissions  of  inspectors, 
who  placed  unlimited  confidence  in  him.  Bonaparte  w^as  to  gain 
the  generals  and  the  different  corps  of  troops  stationed  in  Paris, 
who  displayed  much  enthusiasm  for  him  and  much  attachment  to 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  411 

1799 

his  person.  They  agreed  to  convoke  an  extraordinary  meeting  of 
the  moderate  members  of  the  councils,  to  describe  the  public  danger 
to  the  ancients,  and  by  urging  the  ascendency  of  Jacobinism  to 
demand  the  removal  of  the  legislative  body  to  Saint  Cloud,  and  the 
appointment  of  General  Bonaparte  to  the  command  of  the  armed 
force  as  the  only  man  able  to  save  the  country ;  and  then,  by  means 
of  the  new  military  power,  to  obtain  the  dismissal  of  the  direc- 
tory and  the  temporary  dissolution  of  the  legislative  body.  The 
enterprise  was  fixed  for  the  morning  of  the  i8th  Brumaire  (No- 
vember 9). 

During  these  three  days  the  secret  was  faithfully  kept.  Barras, 
Moulins,  and  Gohier,  who  fonned  the  majority  of  the  directory,  of 
which  Gohier  was  then  president,  might  have  frustrated  the  coup 
d'etat  of  the  conspirators  by  forestalling  them,  as  on  the  i8th  Fruc- 
tidor.  But  they  gave  them  credit  for  hopes  only,  and  not  for  any 
decided  projects.  On  the  morning  of  the  i8th  the  members  of  the 
ancients  were  convoked  in  an  unusual  way  by  the  inspectors;  they 
repaired  to  the  Tuileries,  and  the  debate  was  opened  about  seven  in 
the  morning  under  the  presidentship  of  Lemercir.  Cornudet,  Le 
Brun,  and  Fargues,  the  three  most  influential  conspirators  in  the 
council,  drew  a  most  alarming  picture  of  the  state  of  public  affairs, 
protesting  that  the  Jacobins  were  flocking  in  crowds  to  Paris  from 
all  the  departments,  that  they  wished  to  reestablish  the  revolu- 
tionary government,  and  that  a  reign  of  terror  would  once  more 
desolate  the  republic  if  the  council  had  not  the  courage  and  wisdom 
to  prevent  its  return.  Another  conspirator,  Regnier  de  la  Meurthe, 
required  of  the  ancients,  already  moved,  that  in  virtue  of  the  right 
conferred  on  them  by  the  constitution  they  should  transfer  the  legis- 
lative body  to  Saint  Cloud,  and  depute  Bonaparte,  nominated  by 
them  to  the  command  of  the  seventeenth  military  division,  to  super- 
intend the  removal.  \\'hether  all  the  members  of  the  council  were 
accomplices  of  this  maneuver,  or  whether  they  were  terrified  by  so 
hasty  convocation  and  by  speeches  so  alarming,  they  instantly 
granted  what  the  conspirators  required. 

Bonaparte  awaited  with  impatience  the  result  of  this  delibera- 
tion at  his  house  in  the  Rue  Chantereinc ;  he  was  surrounded  by 
generals,  by  Lefevrc,  the  commander  of  the  guard  of  the  directory, 
and  by  three  regiments  of  cavalry  which  he  was  about  to  review. 
The  decree  of  the  council  of  ancients  was  passed  about  eight  and 
brought  to  him  at  half-past  eight  by  a  state  messenger.     He  received 


412  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

tlie  congratulations  of  all  around  him;  the  ofificers  drew  their 
swords  as  a  sign  of  fidelity.  He  put  himself  at  their  head  and  they 
marched  to  the  Tuileries;  he  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  ancients, 
took  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and  appointed  as  his  lieutenant  Lefevre, 
chief  of  the  directorial  guard. 

This  was,  however,  only  a  beginning  of  success.  Bonaparte 
was  at  the  head  of  the  armed  force ;  but  the  executive  power  of  the 
directory  and  the  legislative  power  of  the  councils  still  existed.  In 
the  struggle  which  would  infallibly  ensue  it  was  not  certain  that 
the  great  and  hitherto  victorious  force  of  the  revolution  would  not 
triumph.  Sieyes  and  Roger  Ducos  went  from  the  Luxembourg  to 
the  legislative  and  military  camp  of  the  Tuileries  and  gave  in  their 
resignation.  Barras,  Moulins,  and  Gohier,  apprised  on  their  side, 
but  a  little  too  late,  of  what  was  going  on,  wished  to  employ  their 
power  and  make  themselves  sure  of  their  guard;  but  the  latter, 
having  received  from  Bonaparte  information  of  the  decree  of  the 
ancients,  refused  to  obey  them.  Barras,  discouraged,  sent  in  his 
resignation  and  departed  for  his  estate  of  Gros-Bois.  The  directory 
was,  in  fact,  dissolved,  and  there  was  one  antagonist  less  in  the 
struggle.    The  five  hundred  and  Bonaparte  alone  remained  opposed. 

The  decree  of  the  council  of  ancients  and  the  proclamations 
of  Bonaparte  were  placarded  on  the  walls  of  Paris.  The  agitation 
which  accompanies  extraordinary  events  prevailed  in  that  great 
city.  The  republicans,  and  not  without  reason,  felt  serious  alarm 
for  the  fate  of  liberty.  But  when  they  showed  alarm  respecting  the 
intentions  of  Bonaparte,  in  whom  they  beheld  a  Caesar  or  a  Crom- 
well, they  were  answered  in  the  general's  own  words :  "  Bad  parts, 
wornout  parts,  unworthy  a  man  of  sense,  even  if  they  were  not  so 
of  a  good  man.  It  would  be  sacrilege  to  attack  the  representative 
government  in  this  age  of  intelligence  and  freedom.  He  would  be 
but  a  fool  who,  with  lightness  of  heart,  could  wish  to  cause  the  loss 
of  the  stakes  of  the  republic  against  royalty  after  having  supported 
them  with  some  glory  and  peril."  Yet  the  importance  he  gave  him- 
self in  his  proclamations  was  ominous.  He  reproached  the  directory 
with  the  situation  of  France  in  a  most  extraordinary  way.  "  What 
have  you  done,"  said  he,  "  with  that  France  that  I  left  so  flourishing 
in  your  hands  ?  I  left  you  peace,  I  find  you  at  war ;  I  left  you  vic- 
tories, I  find  nothing  but  reverses;  I  left  you  the  millions  of  Italy, 
I  find  nothing  but  plundering  laws  and  misery.  What  have  you 
done  with  the  hundred  thousand  Frenchmen  whom  I  knew,  my 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  413 

1799 

companions  in  glory  ?  They  are  dead !  This  state  of  things  cannot 
last ;  in  less  than  three  years  it  would  lead  us  to  despotism."  This 
was  the  first  time  for  ten  years  that  a  man  had  ventured  to  refer 
everything  to  himself,  and  to  demand  an  account  of  the  republic  as 
of  his  own  property.  It  is  a  painful  surprise  to  see  a  newcomer  of 
the  revolution  introduce  himself  thus  into  the  inheritance,  so  labor- 
iously acquired,  of  an  entire  people. 

On  the  19th  Brumaire  the  members  of  the  councils  repaired 
to  Saint  Cloud ;  Sieyes  and  Roger  Ducos  accompanied  Bonaparte 
to  this  new  field  of  battle;  they  went  thither  with  the  intention 
of  supporting  the  designs  of  the  conspirators:  Sieyes,  who  un- 
derstood the  tactics  of  revolutions,  wished  to  make  sure  of 
events  by  provisionally  arresting  the  leaders  and  only  ad- 
mitting the  moderate  party  into  the  councils;  but  Bonaparte 
refused  to  accede  to  this.  He  was  no  party  man;  having  hith- 
erto acted  and  conquered  with  regiments  only,  he  thought  he  could 
direct  legislative  councils  like  an  army,  by  the  word  of  command. 
The  gallery  of  j\Iars  had  been  prepared  for  the  ancients,  the  Oran- 
gery for  the  five  hundred.  A  considerable  armed  force  surrounded 
the  seat  of  the  legislature,  as  the  multitude  on  June  2  had  sur- 
rounded the  convention.  The  republicans,  assembled  in  groups  in 
the  grounds,  waited  the  opening  of  the  sittings ;  they  were  agitated 
with  a  generous  indignation  against  the  military  brutalism  that 
threatened  them,  and  communicated  to  each  other  their  projects  of 
resistance.  The  young  general,  followed  by  a  few  grenadiers, 
passed  through  the  courts  and  apartments,  and  prematurely  yield- 
ing to  his  character,  he  said,  like  the  twentieth  king  of  a  dynasty: 
"  I  will  have  no  more  factions;  there  must  be  an  end  to  this;  I  abso- 
lutely will  not  have  any  more  of  it."  About  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon the  council  assembled  in  their  respective  halls,  to  the  sound  of 
instruments  which  played  the  "  Marseillaise." 

As  soon  as  the  business  of  the  sitting  commenced  Emile  Gau- 
din,  one  of  the  conspirators,  ascended  the  tribune  of  the  five  hun- 
dred. He  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  council  of  ancients  for 
the  measures  it  had  taken,  and  to  request  it  to  expound  the  means 
of  saving  the  republic.  This  motion  was  the  signal  for  a  violent 
tumult ;  cries  arose  against  Gaudin  from  every  part  of  the  hall.  The 
republican  deputies  surrounded  the  tribun.e  and  the  bureau,  at  which 
Lucien  Ijonapartc  presided.  The  conspirators,  Cabanis,  Boulay 
(de  la  Meurthe),  Chazal,  Gaudin,  and  Lucien,  turned  pale  on  their 


414  THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION 

1799 

seats.  After  a  long  scene  of  agitation,  during  which  no  one  could 
obtain  a  hearing,  calm  was  restored  for  a  few  moments,  and  Delbred 
proposed  that  the  oath  made  to  the  constitution  of  the  year  III. 
sliould  be  renewed.  As  no  one  opposed  this  motion,  which  at  such 
a  juncture  was  of  vital  importance,  the  oath  was  taken  with 
an  enthusiasm  and  unanimity  which  was  dangerous  to  the  con- 
spiracy. 

Bonaparte,  learning  what  had  passed  in  the  five  hundred,  and 
in  the  greatest  danger  of  desertion  and  defeat,  presented  himself  at 
the  council  of  ancients.  All  would  have  been  lost  for  him  had  the 
latter,  in  favor  of  the  conspiracy,  been  carried  away  with  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  younger  council.  "  Representatives  of  the  people,"  said 
he,  "  you  are  in  no  ordinary  situation ;  you  stand  on  a  volcano.  Yes- 
terday, when  you  summoned  me  to  inform  me  of  the  decree  for 
your  removal,  and  charged  me  with  its  execution,  I  was  tranquil. 
I  immediately  assembled  my  comrades ;  w^e  flew  to  your  aid !  Well, 
now  I  am  overwhelmed  with  calumnies!  They  talk  of  Csesar, 
Cromwell,  and  military  government !  Had  I  wished  to  oppress  the 
liberty  of  my  country  I  should  not  have  attended  to  the  orders  which 
you  gave  me;  I  should  not  have  had  any  occasion  to  receive  this 
authority  from  your  hands.  Representatives  of  the  people !  I  swear 
to  you,  that  the  country  has  not  a  more  zealous  defender  than  I  am ; 
but  its  safety  rests  with  you  alone!  There  is  no  longer  a  govern- 
ment; four  of  the  directors  have  given  in  their  resignation,  the  fifth 
(Moulins)  has  been  placed  under  surveillance  for  his  own  security; 
the  council  of  five  hundred  is  divided;  nothing  is  left  but  the  council 
of  ancients.  Let  it  adopt  measures ;  let  it  but  speak ;  I  am  ready  to 
execute.  Let  us  save  liberty;  let  us  save  equality!"  Linglet,  a 
republican,  then  arose  and  said:  "General,  we  applaud  what 
you  say:  swear  with  us  to  obey  the  constitution  of  the  year 
IIL,  which  alone  can  maintain  the  republic."  All  would  have 
been  lost  for  him  had  this  motion  met  with  the  same  reception 
which  it  had  found  in  the  five  hundred.  It  surprised  the  council, 
and  for  a  moment  Bonaparte  was  disconcerted.  But  he  soon  re- 
sumed: "  The  constitution  of  the  year  III.  has  ceased  to  exist;  you 
violated  it  on  the  i8th  Fructidor;  you  violated  It  on  the  22d  Flor- 
eal :  you  violated  it  on  the  30th  Prairial.  The  constitution  is  invoked 
by  all  factions,  and  violated  by  all :  it  cannot  be  a  means  of  safety 
for  us,  because  it  no  longer  obtains  respect  from  anyone;  the  consti- 
tution being  violated,  we  must  have  another  compact,  new  guaran- 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  415 

1799 

tees."     The  council  applauded  these  reproaches  of  Bonaparte  and 
rose  in  sign  of  approbation. 

Bonaparte,  deceived  by  his  easy  success  with  the  ancients, 
imagined  that  his  presence  alone  would  suffice  to  appease  the  stormy 
council  of  the  five  hundred.  He  hastened  thither  at  the  head  of  a 
few  grenadiers,  whom  he  left  at  the  door,  but  within  the  hall,  and 
he  advanced  alone,  hat  in  hand.  At  the  sight  of  the  bayonets  the 
assembly  arose  with  a  sudden  movem.ent.  The  legislators,  conceiv- 
ing his  entrance  to  be  a  signal  for  military  violence,  uttered  all  at 
once  the  cry  of  "  Outlaw  him!  Down  with  the  dictator!  "  Several 
members  rushed  to  meet  him;  and  the  republican  Bigonet,  seizing 
him  by  the  arm,  exclaimed:  "Rash  man!  what  are  you  doing? 
Retire;  you  are  violating  the  sanctuary  of  the  laws."  Bonaparte, 
pale  and  agitated,  receded  and  was  carried  off  by  the  grenadiers 
who  had  escorted  him  there. 

His  disappearance  did  not  put  a  stop  to  the  agitation  of  the 
council.  All  the  members  spoke  at  once ;  all  proposed  measures  of 
public  safety  and  defense.  Lucien  Bonaparte  was  the  object  of 
general  reproach;  he  attempted  to  justify  his  brother,  but  with 
timidity.  After  a  long  struggle  he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  trib- 
une, and  urged  the  assembly  to  judge  his  brother  with  less  severity. 
He  protested  that  he  had  no  designs  against  their  liberty,  and  recalled 
his  services.  But  several  voices  immediately  exclaimed :  "  He  has 
lost  all  their  rrierit.  Down  with  the  dictator !  Down  with  the 
tyrants!  "  The  tumult  now  became  more  violent  than  ever,  and  all 
demanded  the  outlawry  of  General  Bonaparte.  "  What,"  said 
Lucien,  "  do  you  wish  me  to  pronounce  the  outlawry  of  my 
brother?"  "Yes!  yes!  outlawry!  It  is  the  reward  of  tyrants!" 
In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  a  motion  was  made  and  put  to  the 
vote  that  the  council  should  sit  permanently ;  that  it  should  instantly 
repair  to  its  palace  at  Paris ;  that  the  troops  assembled  at  Saint  Cloud 
should  form  a  part  of  the  guard  of  the  legislative  body ;  that  tlie 
command  of  them  should  be  given  to  General  Bernadotte.  Lucien, 
astounded  by  these  propositions,  and  by  the  outlawry,  which  he 
thought  had  been  adopted  with  the  rest,  left  the  president's  chair 
and,  ascending  the  tribune,  said,  in  the  greatest  agitation  :  "  Since  I 
cannot  be  heard  in  this  assembly,  I  put  off  the  symbols  of  the  popular 
magistracy  with  a  deep  sense  of  insulted  dignity."  And  he  took  off 
his  cap,  robe  and  scarf. 

Bonaparte,  meantime,  on  leaving  the  council  of  the  five  hun- 


416  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

dred,  had  found  some  difficulty  in  regaining  his  composure.  Unac- 
customed to  scenes  of  popular  tumult,  he  had  been  greatly  agitated. 
His  officers  came  around  him;  and  Sieyes,  having  more  revolution- 
ary experience,  besought  him  not  to  lose  time  and  to  employ  force. 
General  Lefevre  immediately  gave  an  order  for  carrying  off  Lucien 
from  the  council.  A  detachment  entered  the  hall,  advanced  to  the 
chair  which  Lucien  now  occupied  again,  placed  him  in  their  ranks, 
and  returned  with  him  to  the  troops.  As  soon  as  Lucien  came  out 
he  mounted  a  horse  by  his  brother's  side,  and  although  divested  of 
his  legal  character,  harangued  the  troops  as  president.  In  concert 
with  Bonaparte,  he  invented  the  story,  so  often  repeated  since,  that 
poignards  had  been  drawn  on  the  general  in  the  council  of  five  hun- 
dred, and  exclaimed :  "  Citizen  soldiers,  the  president  of  the  council 
of  five  hundred  declares  to  you  that  the  large  majority  of  that 
council  is  at  this  moment  kept  in  fear  by  the  daggers  of  a  few  repre- 
sentatives, who  surround  the  tribune,  threaten  their  colleagues  with 
death,  and  occasion  the  most  terrible  deliberations.  General,  and 
you,  soldiers  and  citizens,  you  will  only  recognize  as  legislators  of 
France  those  who  follow  me.  As  for  those  who  remain  in  the 
Orangery,  let  force  expel  them.  Those  brigands  are  no  longer  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people,  but  representatives  of  the  poignard." 
After  this  violent  appeal,  addressed  to  the  troops  by  a  conspirator 
president,  who,  as  usual,  calumniated  those  he  wished  to  proscribe, 
Bonaparte  spoke:  "  Soldiers,"  said  he,  "  I  have  led  you  to  victory; 
may  I  rely  on  you?  "  "  Yes!  yes!  Vive  la  General!  "  "  Soldiers, 
there  were  reasons  for  expecting  that  the  council  of  five  hundred 
would  save  the  country;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  given  up  to  intestine 
quarrels ;  agitators  seek  to  excite  it  against  me.  Soldiers,  may  I 
rely  on  you?"  "Yes!  yes!  Vive  Bonaparte! "  "Well,  then  I 
will  bring  them  to  their  senses!  "  And  he  instantly  gave  orders  to 
the  officers  surrounding  him  to  clear  the  hall  of  the  five  hundred. 

The  council,  after  Lucien's  departure,  had  been  a  prey  to  great 
anxiety  and  indecision.  A  few  members  proposed  that  they  should 
leave  the  place  in  a  body  and  go  to  Paris  to  seek  protection  amid 
the  people.  Others  wished  the  national  representatives  not  to  for- 
sake their  posts,  but  to  brave  the  outrages  of  force.  In  the  mean- 
time a  troop  of  grenadiers  entered  the  hall  by  degrees,  and  the 
officer  in  command  communicated  to  the  council  the  order  for  their 
dispersion.  The  deputy  Prudhon  reminded  tlie  officer  and  his  sol- 
diers of  the  respect  due  to  the  representatives  of  the  people;  General 


FALL     OF     THE     DIRECTORY  417 

1799 

Jourdan  also  represented  to  them  the  enormity  of  such  a  measure. 
For  a  moment  the  troops  hesitated,  but  a  reinforcement  now  arrived 
in  close  column.  General  Leclerc  exclaimed :  "  In  the  name  of 
General  Bonaparte,  the  leg-islative  body  is  dissolved;  let  all  good 
citizens  retire.  Grenadiers,  forward !  "  Cries  of  indignation  arose 
from  every  side,  but  these  were  drowned  by  the  drums.  The  gren- 
adiers advanced  slowly  across  the  whole  width  of  the  Orangery, 
and  presenting  bayonets.  In  this  way  they  drove  the  legislators 
before  them,  who  continued  shouting  "  Vive  la  rcpuhlique! "  as 
they  left  the  place.  At  half-past  five,  on  the  19th  Brumaire  of  the 
year  VIII.  (November  10,  1799),  there  was  no  longer  a  rep- 
resentation.® 

Thus  this  violation  of  the  law,  this  coup  d'etat  against  liberty, 
was  accomplished.  Force  began  to  sway.  The  i8th  Brumaire  was 
the  May  31  of  the  army  against  the  representation,  except  that 
it  was  not  directed  against  a  party,  but  against  the  popular  power. 
But  it  is  just  to  distinguish  the  i8th  Brumaire  from  its  conse- 
quences. It  might  then  be  supposed  that  the  army  was  only  an 
auxiliary  of  the  revolution  as  it  had  been  on  the  13th  Vendemiaire 
and  the  i8th  Fructidor,  and  that  this  indispensable  change  would 
not  turn  to  the  advantage  of  a  man — a  single  man,  who  would  soon 
change  France  into  a  regiment,  and  cause  nothing  to  be  heard  of  in 
a  world  hitherto  agitated  by  so  great  a  moral  commotion  save  the 
tread  of  his  army  and  the  voice  of  his  will. 

'^  Much  new  light  has  been  thrown  upon  the  history  of  the  directory,  and 
especially  upon  the  events  of  the  i8th  Brumaire,  by  the  recent  work  of  Albert 
vandal,  "  L'Avcncmcnt  de  Bonaparte."  The  book  is  the  most  recent  and  the 
most  critical  estimate  of  Napoleon  at  this  important  stage  in  his  life. 


Chapter  XVI 

THE    FINANCES   OF    THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION 

BEFORE  proceeding  to  the  events  in  sequence  on  the  i8th 
Brumaire  it  is  well  to  consider  what  was  the  economic 
and  financial  condition  of  this  France  to  whose  respon- 
sibilities Napoleon  succeeded.  From  the  meeting  of  the  states- 
general  in  1789  to  the  fall  of  the  directory  the  financial  difficulty 
of  the  nation  had  remained  the  great  question,  obscured  from  time 
to  time,  but  not  obliterated  in  the  progress  of  the  revolution. 

Mirabeau,  before  the  prospect  of  bankruptcy,  "  horrible, 
hideous  bankruptcy,"  put  forth  a  plan  for  the  issue  of  treasury  notes 
secured  by  church  lands,  and  moved  the  confiscation  of  the 
church  estates  on  October  12.  On  November  2,  1789,  the  assem- 
bly declared  the  church  property  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  state, 
and  then  immediately  Mirabeau  moved  his  plan,  that  the  admin- 
istration of  the  national  debt  be  intrusted  to  a  distinct  board, 
which,  he  said,  would  put  into  circulation  paper  notes  resting  on 
good  security,  and  thereby  effect  the  liquidation  of  the  deficit.  This 
proposition  was  defeated  by  Lafayette  and  Necker,  who  were 
momentarily  drawn  together  through  their  mutual  antagonism  to 
Mirabeau. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Necker  brought  forth  his  idea  of  a 
national  bank,  with  a  circulation  secured  by  the  confiscated  lands 
of  the  church.  But  the  paper  money  idea  had  taken  hold  of 
the  assembly,  and  it  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  national 
bank.  One  of  the  speakers  in  the  assembly  argued  as  follows : 
"  Men  ascribe  this  disorder  to  the  revolution.  It  is  completely 
independent  of  it.  It  would  have  arisen  just  as  well  at  another 
time.  The  origin  of  the  evil  is  to  be  found,  in  reality,  in  the  '  Bank 
of  Discount.'  It  inundates  the  country  with  a  most  dangerous  spe- 
cies of  paper  money,  since  the  fabrication  of  this  money  rests  in  the 
hands  of  a  company  in  no  way  accountable  to  the  government.  This 
money,  which  is  forced  upon  the  people  of  France  by  law  and  which 

418 


FINANCES  419 

is  not  convertible  on  presentation,  is  without  value  in  the  foreign 
markets.  We  are  not  able  to  buy  except  for  cash.  They  will  not 
accept  our  paper,  for  on  presentation  for  payment  they  would  be 
paid  in  notes  of  the  Bank  of  Discount.  For  these  reasons  wealth 
must  depart  from  France,  even  to  the  last  crown,  if  this  is  not 
remedied.  Again,  the  need  of  grain  and  the  necessity  for  paying 
for  it  in  gold  will  precipitate  the  same  result."  Mirabeau  argued 
against  Necker's  scheme  that  if  the  state  had  no  credit  its  guarantee 
of  the  circulation  of  the  Bank  of  Discount  would  be  worthless,  and 
that  if  it  did  have  credit  it  did  not  need  the  help  of  the  bank. 

"  But,"  said  Petion  of  Villeneuve,  on  December  lo,  1789, 
*'  why  are  we  not  able  ourselves  to  hypothecate  that  wealth  of  which 
the  necessity  is  acknowledged  ?  Are  we  not  able  to  give  it  ourselves 
the  confidence  of  which  it  has  need  in  order  to  circulate  in  all  parts 
of  the  realm  ?  We  have  at  our  disposal  ecclesiastical  domains.  Let 
us  create  obligations  to  order.  Let  us  make  them  bear  a  certain 
interest.  Let  us  assign  to  them  a  certain  payment.  Shall  we  give 
to  the  bank  the  apparent  advantage  of  these  deeds  ?  Let  us  give  to 
our  true  creditors  the  interest  which  we  would  give  to  the  bank." 

The  committee  on  finance  brought  in  a  report,  through  its 
chairman,  Montesquiou,  in  which  it  stated  that  the  debt  of  the  state 
already  due  was  950  millions,  and  then  added,  in  the  same  breath, 
that  there  was  a  surplus  of  33  millions  in  tlie  revenue.  It  made  no 
objection  to  a  loan  from  the  Bank  of  Discount,  but  insisted  on  a 
sale  of  clerical  lands  to  the  amount  of  400  millions.  On  this  propo- 
sition there  followed  a  long  discussion,  in  which  the  merits  and 
demerits  of  the  issuing  of  assignats  were  discussed.  Allarde  and 
Gouy  supported  the  scheme  of  issuing  400  millions  of  assignats 
against  the  church  property  on  the  ground  that  it  W'as  "  securing 
resources  without  paying  interest." 

On  March  6  Necker  was  obliged  to  bring  into  the  assembly  a 
report  stating  that  he  would  need,  in  addition  to  the  revenue,  280 
to  310  millions.  However,  he  said  that  he  would  be  able  to  raise 
it  by  surplus  income,  fresh  anticipations,  and  a  final  loan  from 
the  Bank  of  Discount.  But  the  assembly  and  Paris  were  impa- 
tient to  strike  the  final  blow  against  the  church  and  take  pos- 
session of  its  property.  Thcref(M-e.  on  ]\Iarch  10,  Bailly,  the 
mayor  of  Paris,  proposed  that  I'aris  should  purchase  from  the 
state  all  tlie  monastic  projicrty  situated  within  the  city  limits — val- 
ued at  150  millions — and  sell  it  again,  and  be  satisfied  with  16  mil- 


420  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

lions  as  a  commission  for  making  the  sale.  So  on  March  17,  1790, 
it  was  decreed  that  church  property  to  the  amount  of  4CX)  millions 
should  be  turned  over  to  the  municipality  and  sold  on  a  commission 
of  one-sixteenth.  After  stormy  debates  on  April  14-17,  1790,  the 
assembly  decreed  the  payment  of  the  expenses  of  the  church,  the 
confiscation  of  all  the  church  property,  the  immediate  sale  of  400 
millions,  and  the  issue  of  assignats  to  that  amount. 

Therefore  the  assignats  were  devised  simply  to  anticipate  the 
sales  and  by  relieving  the  stress  to  furnish  money  with  which  the 
people  might  purchase  the  lands.  The  face  value  of  each  assignat 
w^as  guaranteed  by  an  equivalent  amount  of  the  confiscated  lands 
of  the  clergy,  and  each  assignat  was  to  be  destroyed  when  that 
amount  of  land  was  sold  by  the  government.  Mirabeau  was 
conscious  of  the  two-edged  character  of  this  financial  proposi- 
tion, but  he  knew  no  choice  of  means.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  that  assignat  mischief  which  was  to  end  in  total  bankruptcy. 
His  intention  was  to  clear  the  road  of  the  obstructions  that  it 
was  indispensable  to  get  out  of  the  way  if  a  strong  government 
was  to  be  established.  Those  who  came  after  him  used  the 
assignats  as  a  handy  means  for  disposing  of  the  necessity  of  recon- 
structing the  economical  basis  of  the  commonwealth.  The  assem- 
bly accepted  what  to  him  was  only  a  regrettable  but  necessary  means 
to  the  attainment  of  a  great  end,  and  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 
use  it  for  such  a  means,  and  therefore  also  impossible  to  attain 
the  end. 

The  assignat  fever  had  seized  hard  hold  of  the  members  of  the 
national  assembly.  The  committee  on  finance  had  reported :  "  It  is 
time  to  repudiate  the  principles  of  our  ancient  financial  methods. 
We  shall  offer  you  a  new  resource,  a  bold  operation,  but  simple. 
It  is  time  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  credit  truly  national.  Let  us 
show  to  entire  Europe  that  we  know  our  resources  and  that  w^e  shall 
shortly  retake  the  highroad  of  our  liberation." 

One  speaker  said:  "What  is  an  assignat?  It  is  a  letter  of 
exchange,  of  which  the  cash  value  is  guaranteed  by  the  nation.  It 
is  a  better  means  of  reanimating  the  circulation  of  money  and  of 
traversing  the  difficult  passage  from  an  administration  remarkable 
for  depredation  and  disorder  to  one  just  and  wise."  ^  "  Further," 
he  continues,  "are  400  millions  enough?  The  anticipations  and 
present  expenses  amount  to  1559  millions;  you  will  receive  only  450 
millions.  Therefore  there  are  still  1109  millions  unprovided  for. 
^Moniteur,  vol.  IV.  p.  87. 


FINANCES  421 

The  400  millions  proposed  are  insufficient.  I  think  there  should  be 
decreed  enough  assignats  to  reimburse  the  public  debt." 

The  theory  upon  which  the  first  issue  of  assignats  was  put 
forth  was  this;  That,  if  the  state  could,  by  means  of  the  church 
property,  pay  its  immense  debt  and  restore  public  credit  and  at  the 
same  time  put  that  much  more  money  into  circulation,  it  would  at 
once  relieve  the  stringency  in  the  money  market  and  restore  pros- 
perity. The  state  had  confiscated  church  lands  variously  estimated 
to  be  worth  from  1200  to  2000  millions.  To  throw  this  immense 
amount  of  property  on  the  market  at  a  time  when  specie  had  disap- 
peared and  the  country  was  held  in  the  double  grasp  of  hard  times — • 
almost  bankruptcy — and  famine,  meant  to  sacrifice  it  at  much  less 
than  its  value,  if  it  were  possible  to  dispose  of  it  at  all. 

But  from  the  outset  a  serious  miscalculation  was  made.  The 
Jansenists  and  disciples  of  Voltaire  hated  the  convents,  and  the 
finance  committee  began  with  them.  The  pensions  required  for  the 
20,000  inmates  were  about  16,000,000.  The  theoiy  was:  previous 
income  per  year,  70,000,000.  Value  of  real  estate  is  thirty-three 
times  yearly  rental.  Therefore,  2,300,000,000  will  be  realized,  of 
which  the  clergy  were  to  receive  100,000.000.  These  calculations 
were  a  mistake.  Of  this  70  millions,  20  belonged  to  Maltesian 
Knights,  schools,  and  hospitals,  Moreover,  33  was  too  high  a 
figure  for  most  of  the  land.  The  results  v^^ere  that  church  property 
sold  for  1,250,000,000,  instead  of  2,300,000,000.  Morris,  writing 
to  Washington  in  January,  1790.  says: 

"  It  is  proposed  and  detennined  to  sell  about  ten  or  twelve 
millions  sterling  of  the  crown  and  church  lands,  .  .  .  but 
as  it  is  clear  that  these  lands  will  not  sell  well  just  now,  they 
have  appointed  a  treasurer  to  receive  what  they  will  sell  for  here- 
after, and  they  issue  a  kind  of  order  upon  this  treasurer,  which  is 
to  be  called  an  assignat,  and  is  to  be  paid  (out  of  the  sales)  one, 
two,  and  three  years  hence.  They  expect  that  on  these  assignats 
they  can  borrow  money  to  face  the  engagements  of  the  Bank  of  Dis- 
count, and  they  are  at  the  same  time  to  pay  some  of  the  more 
pressing  debts  with  the  same  assignats.  Now  this  plan  must  fail, 
as  follows:  First,  there  will  be  some  doubt  about  the  title  of  these 
lands,  at  least  till  the  revolution  is  completed.  Secondly,  the  repre- 
sentati\e  of  lands  must  always  (for  a  reason  which  will  presently 
appear)  sell  for  less  than  a  representative  of  money,  and  therefore, 
until  public  confidence  is  so  far  restored  as  that  the  five  per  cents. 


422  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

are  above  par,  these  assignats,  bearing  five  per  cent,  must  be  below 
par ;  money,  therefore,  cannot  be  raised  upon  them  but  at  a  consid- 
erable discount.  Thirdly,  the  lands  to  be  disposed  of  must  sell  a 
great  deal  below  their  value,  for  there  is  not  money  to  buy 
them  in  this  country,  and  the  proof  is  that  they  never  obtained 
money  on  loan  at  a  legal  interest,  but  always  upon  a  premium  .  ,  . 
and  as  the  revolution  has  greatly  lessened  the  mass  of  money, 
the  effect  of  the  scarcity  must  be  greater.  But  further,  there  is  a 
solecism  in  the  plan  which  escapes  most  of  them  and  which  is  never- 
theless very  palpable.  The  value  of  lands  in  Europe  is,  you  know, 
estimated  by  the  income.  To  dispose  of  public  lands,  therefore,  is 
to  sell  public  revenue,  and,  therefore,  taking  the  legal  rate  of  interest 
at  five  per  cent.,  land  renting  for  loof.  ought  to  sell  for  2000/. ;  but 
they  expect  that  these  lands  will  sell  for  3000/.,  and  that  thereby 
not  only  public  credit  will  be  restored,  but  a  great  saving  will  be 
made,  as  the  3000/.  will  redeem  an  interest  of  i^of."- 

To  add  to  their  other  errors,  the  advocates  of  the  new  financial 
measures  took  no  account  of  the  fact  that  the  revenues,  always  hard 
to  collect,  were  now  reduced  to  half  their  former  sum.  In  other 
words,  they  forgot  altogether  August  4.  Since  that  day  more  than 
170  millions  of  taxes  had  been  voluntarily  given  up,  and  much  of 
what  remained  was  uncollectable,  owing  to  the  state  of  the  country. 

Necker  estimated  that  the  redemption  of  the  offices  abolished 
by  August  4  would  cost  the  state  350  millions.  Ramel  estimated 
it  at  492  millions,  the  national  assembly  at  800  millions.  All 
these  renunciations  had  been  left  out  of  consideration  in  the  theory 
of  the  assignats.  True,  it  was  intended  that  they  should  be 
used  only  for  the  liquidation  of  the  existing  public  debt,  but  here 
theory  and  practice  failed  to  coincide.  Of  the  first  1200  millions 
of  assignats  issued  only  108  millions  were  used  toward  reducing  the 
public  debt.  A  larger  share  of  the  first  issue  was  consumed  in  cur- 
rent expenses. 

^^'ithin  six  months  the  government  found  itself  again  in  dis- 
tress. The  assignats  were  exhausted  and  the  tide  had  again  turned 
against  the  government.  Immediately  there  went  up  from  all  over 
the  land,  and  from  the  assembly,  the  cry  of  the  thoughtless  for 
more  assignats.  There,  however,  the  more  thoughtful  people,  both 
in  the  assembly  and  outside  of  it,  began  to  be  alarmed.  Many  of 
the  members  who  had  favored  the  first  issue  under  the  restrictions 
placed  upon  it  now  began  to  doubt.     A  few  of  the  schemers  of  the 

"  Morris,    "  Diary   and    Letters,"    vol    I.   p.    284-285. 


FINANCES  423 

assembly  were  outspoken  for  another  issue.  It  would  effect  the 
sale  of  the  lands  more  quickly,  they  said,  by  making"  money  plentier. 
In  vain  Maury,  Cazales,  Necker,  Le  Brun,  and  others  opposed  it  with 
all  their  strength.  Le  Brun  said :  "  All  will  change  itself  to  paper. 
Will  you  pay  the  soldiers  with  paper?  Will  you  equip  the  waiting 
vessels  on  the  sea  with  paper?  They  say  that  these  '  belle*  opera- 
tions will  save  the  revolution.  As  for  me,  I  say  they  will  kill  the 
revolution  and  this  assembly."  ' 

Necker,  discouraged  and  fatigued,  resigned  September  3,  1790. 
Mirabeau's  speech  carried  all  with  it,  and  on  September  29-October 
12  the  assembly  voted  to  increase  the  assignats  to  1200  millions, 
with  the  solemn  pledge  that  the  total  should  never  exceed  this 
amount,  and  that  as  fast  as  they  were  paid  into  the  treasury  in 
return  for  land  they  should  be  burned. 

It  remains  to  be  shown  now  what  the  assignats  proved  to  be  in 
practice.  How  they  failed  in  realizing  the  prosperity  and  abundance 
predicted  by  their  advocates  before  their  issue.  The  same  causes 
that  swallowed  up  the  first  issue  of  400  millions  were  still  in  opera- 
tion and  were  increasing  in  destructive  force  in  a  geometric  ratio 
as  time  advanced.  On  September  29,  1790,  the  emission  of  800 
millions  of  assignats  was  determined  upon,  with  the  provision  that 
the  amount  in  existence  at  any  time  should  not  be  more  than  1200 
millions.  The  excise  taxes  were  given  up,  and  hence  382  millions 
had  to  be  raised  from  real  estate,  making  a  crushing  burden.  The 
yearly  budget  presented  a  deficit  of  220  millions.  In  three-quarters 
of  a  year  the  800  millions  had  been  used  up!  After  this  issue  all 
felt  that  the  proper  plan  to  pursue  would  be  to  run  the  finances  for 
1 79 1  on  a  close,  systematic  basis,  and  in  accordance  with  this  idea 
the  finance  committee  brought  in  a  budget  of  640  millions  for  1791. 
These  figures,  however,  from  a  desire  to  conceal  the  fact  that  the 
government  under  the  assembly  was  costing  more  than  under  the 
ancient  regime,  were  underestimated  to  the  amount  of  more 
than  150  millions.  But  taking  the  total  as  reported  by  the 
committees,  it  soon  became  evident  from  a  study  of  the  ways 
in  which  thev  propose  to  raise  the  amount  that  there  will  be,  on 
their  own  estimate,  a  deficit  of  220  millions.  Moreover,  as  this 
deficit  increased  so  did  the  national  debt,  but  of  this  no  mention 
was  made  in  tlie  budget.  Since  August  4,  1789,  there  was  a  total 
new  debt  of  ncarlv  T500  millions,  bearing  an  annual  interest  of  72 
millions.     It  was  for  the  payment  of  this  debt  that  the  assignats 


424  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

had  been  issued,  and  yet,  of  the  entire  1200  millions,  as  before 
mentioned,  less  than  200  millions  were  applied  to  this  purpose. 
Thus  the  lands  were  gone,  and  still  the  debt  remained. 

The  result  of  this  issue  on  France  at  large  in  a  commercial  way 
was  very  evident.  Owing  to  the  abundance  of  money  everything 
"  boomed  "  for  a  time.  Foreign  merchants,  owing  to  the  difference 
in  exchange,  hastened  to  place  orders  of  all  kinds  with  French  man- 
ufactories. It  was  simply  the  difference  in  exchange,  however,  not 
any  true,  permanent  want,  that  created  this  demand,  and  as  soon  as 
exchange  was  equalized  it  ceased.  Specie  began  to  disappear  from 
circulation,  prices  rose,  owing  to  the  abundance  of  paper  money, 
and  soon  there  broke  forth  again  the  cry,  "  lack  of  circulating 
medium."  This  cry  resulted  in  the  evasion  of  the  solemn  pledges 
to  keep  the  issue  of  assignats  down  by  burning  all  that  were  received 
in  payment  for  lands.  The  treasury,  instead,  reissued  100  millions 
again,  in  the  form  of  small  notes.  This,  however,  served  only  as  a 
drop  in  the  bucket,  and  on  June  19,  1791,  nine  months  after  the  last 
issue,  600  millions  more  were  authorized,  and  the  extreme  limit 
again  fixed  at  1800  millions.  From  this  time  forth  France  was 
committed  wholly  and  thoroughly  to  the  paper-money  idea,  and 
issue  follows  issue  with  frightful  rapidity. 

At  the  time  of  the  second  issue,  October,  1790,  the  assignats 
had  depreciated  to  92  per  cent.,  while  in  June,  1791,  at  the  third 
issue,  they  fell  to  87  per  cent.  With  this  third  issue  began  that 
greatest  of  evils,  the  issue  of  the  smaller  bills.  By  February,  1792, 
silver,  and  even  copper,  had  disappeared  from  circulation,  and 
church  bells  were  melted  down. 

In  order  to  bolster  up  the  price  of  their  paper  money  the  assem- 
bly decreed  the  sequestration  of  the  estates  of  the  emigrants.  It  did 
not  raise  the  price  of  assignats  a  single  sou.  In  spite  of  the  abun- 
dance of  money,  and  in  spite  of  the  high  prices,  wages  did  not  rise. 
One  manufactory  after  another  was  closed.  All  that  tariffs  and 
custom-houses  could  do  was  done  to  prevent  the  closing  of  factories, 
but  all  in  vain.  Soon  there  were  thousands  of  idle  workmen  all 
over  France.  It  was  no  longer  safe  for  the  government  to  trans- 
port specie.  Bread  riots  broke  out  all  over  the  country.  The  na- 
tional assembly  voted  millions  for  public  workshops;  100,000  men 
found  employment  in  the  army. 

In  order  to  assist  the  woollen  manufacturers  the  assembly,  in 
February,  1792,  forbade  the  exportation  of  wool,  and  in  March  a 


FINANCES  425 

duty  of  fifty  per  cent,  was  placed  upon  cotton  to  keep  it  out  of  the 
country.  The  same  troubles  that  beset  the  manufacturers  appeared 
among  the  agricultural  classes.  The  property-holders  had  not  in- 
creased much  in  number.  Land  had  just  been  differently  grouped, 
and  had  changed  owners.  Owing  to  the  long  terms  on  which  the 
government  sold  the  land  many  of  the  peasantry  had  taken  up  as 
much  land  as  they  could  raise  money  :o  make  first  payments  on, 
and  as  a  result  the  majority  had  no  capital  left  with  which  to  work 
the  land,  and  it  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  speculators  and  capital- 
ists. Then,  too,  many  speculators  would  make  a  small  advance  on 
the  land,  and  then,  having  stripped  it  of  its  timber  and  whatever 
else  of  value  could  be  moved  away,  would  default  on  any  further 
payments.  Landowners,  as  the  yields  diminished  and  assignats 
depreciated,  soon  abolished  money-rents  and  received  their  rent  in 
corn,  which  they  stored  up  in  hope  of  a  better  price.  Soon  the 
prohibition  of  the  export  of  wool  showed  its  effect :  breeding  of 
sheep  came  to  an  end.  Then  came  more  complaints  of  the  scarcity 
of  wool. 

The  state  of  opinion  in  the  assembly  as  their  troubles  thickened 
cannot  better  be  shown  than  by  an  extract  from  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  finance,  on  July  31,  1792.  It  explains  that  a  further 
issue  of  assignats  is  impossible,  and  then  asks  for  300  millions  more. 
It  asserts  that  the  sale  of  the  emigrants'  land  would  depress  rather 
than  raise  the  value  of  paper,  and  yet  it  does  not  conceal  a  desire  to 
see  such  a  rich  source  of  money  made  accessible.  It  warns  against 
taking  the  state  forests,  and  then  begs  to  be  allowed  to  take  them. 

At  the  opening  of  the  convention,  September  23,  1792,  Cam- 
bon  reported  as  follows :  "  There  is  no  other  financial  resource 
except  assignats.  All  the  taxes  are  exhausted ;  the  government 
is  neither  able  to  borrow  nor  to  lay  taxes.  Therefore  it  is  necessary 
to  recur  to  the  assignat,  and  as  security  to  hasten  the  sale  of  national 
goods  and  properties."  He  adds  that  the  urgency  is  great  and  that 
the  paper  is  all  ready  for  the  issue,  awaiting  only  the  decree  of  the 
convention.  From  this  time  on  the  finance  committee  had  but  two 
aims:  one  was  to  keep  up  in  the  issue  with  the  demands  of  the  state; 
the  other  was  to  try,  by  all  means  possible,  to  make  their  sale  pro- 
gress naturally  by  the  accruing  of  property,  each  day,  through  de- 
crees of  confiscation  that  grew  more  and  more  severe. 

The  measures  adopted  by  the  terror  to  maintain  the  value  of 
this  inflated  currencv  were  violent.     A  first  decree  forbade  the  sale 


426  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

of  specie  in  France  or  any  of  the  countries  held  by  the  armies  of 
France,  on  pain  of  six  years  in  prison.  All  transactions  were 
ordered  to  be  exclusively  effected  in  assignats.  Anyone  convicted 
of  proposing  or  decreeing  two  different  prices  for  things,  depending 
on  payments  in  assignats  or  in  specie,  was  also  liable  to  six  years' 
imprisonment.  All  persons  refusing  to  receive  assignats  were  com- 
pelled to  receive  them  and  condemned  to  a  fine  equal  to  the  sum 
refused.  (Decree  of  April  11-16,  1793.)  After  August  i,  1793, 
the  fine  was  3000  livres  and  three  months'  imprisonment,  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  offense  making  the  offender  liable  to  twenty  years'  im- 
prisonment. On  September  5,  1793,  the  convention  decreed  that 
all  persons  convicted  of  having  refused  to  receive  assignats  in  pay- 
ment, of  having  given  or  received  them  at  any  reduction  whatever, 
or  of  having  held  any  conversation  tending  to  discredit  them, 
would  be  punished  by  death  or  with  confiscation  of  goods.  In  May, 
1794,  the  law  of  suspects  was  made  to  include  (i)  all  persons 
suspected  of  having  bought  or  sold  specie;  (2)  all  persons  suspected 
of  having  decreed  different  prices  in  specie  or  assignats;  (3)  all 
persons  suspected  of  having  held  conversation  tending  to  discredit 
assignats;  (4)  all  persons  suspected  of  having  refused  assignats  in 
payment;  (5)  all  persons  suspected  of  having  given  or  received  any 
reduction  whatever,  or  of  having  asked  before  the  conclusion  or 
at  the  beginning  of  a  purchase,  "  in  w^iat  money  the  payment  should 
be  made."  All  such  persons  were  to  be  immediately  brought  be- 
fore the  revolutionary  tribunal  and  punished  by  death.  No  appeal 
was  allowed,  and  confiscation  of  goods  was  to  follow  conviction. 
(May  10-20,  1794.) 

Cambon,  meanw-hile,  proposed  to  effect  a  rise  in  the  value  of 
assignats  by  three  measures :  first,  to  proceed  against  the  bankers ; 
second,  to  suppress  the  Bank  of  Discount ;  and  third,  by  a  with- 
drawal of  the  king's  face  from  the  assignats.  This  last  measure 
resulted  in  a  virtual  repudiation  of  over  200  millions  of  assignats 
which  bore  the  king's  portrait. 

By  far  the  most  noteworthy  measure  adopted,  however,  to 
maintain  the  value  of  the  assignats  was  the  Law  of  Maximum, 
Early  in  1793  a  law  had  been  passed  fixing  the  maximum  price 
for  corn  (May  3).  This  w^as  variable  for  the  different  depart- 
ments. Now,  however,  in  the  fall  of  this  same  year  a  maximum 
price  for  corn  and  meal  was  fixed  for  the  entire  republic.  These 
articles  were  only  to  be  sold  at  fairs  and  markets  and  under  the 


FINANCES  427 

regulation  of  the  municipal  body.  Nearly  all  articles  of  consump- 
tion, together  with  most  raw  materials,  were  also  subject  to  a 
maximum  price,  which  was  fixed  at  one-third  more  than  the  price 
of  the  article  in  September,  1790.  All  people  were  forbidden  to  lay 
in  stores  of  goods,  and  shopkeepers  had  to  expose  over  their  doors 
a  list  of  the  goods  they  had  in  stock.  The  government  compelled  all 
persons  to  sell  to  it  the  war  supplies  it  needed,  under  requisition, 
at  the  maximum  price,  and  paid  for  the  goods  in  assignats  at  the 
nominal  value.  A  maximum  was  also  fixed  for  wages,  the  most 
the  workman  could  receive  being  the  wages  he  received  in  1790. 
Such  measures  as  these,  with  assignats  at  33^  per  cent,  of  their 
nominal  value,  worked  untold  hardships  throughout  all  parts  of  the 
country  and  among  all  classes  of  citizens ;  and  still  the  value  of  the 
assignats  kept  on  declining. 

The  directory,  upon  one  occasion,  emitted  three  milliards  of 
assignats  at  one  time.  In  the  first  four  months  of  its  authority  no 
less  than  twenty  milliards  were  issued.  An  assignat  of  100  livres 
was  valued  at  18  livres  in  the  middle  of  the  year  1795 ;  it  fell  to  .87 
at  the  end  of  this  year,  then  to  .54  and  even  to  .29.  On  February  19, 
1796,  Ramel  announced  to  the  councils  that  the  various  govern- 
ments of  the  revolution  had  issued  45,581,411,018  livres  in  paper 
currency !  A  law  of  the  2d  Nivose,  year  IV.,  forbade  their  emis- 
sion, and  the  press  was  broken  to  pieces. 

To  such  extremities  was  the  directory  brought  at  one  time 
that  a  strike  of  printers  threatened  to  stop  all  the  machinery  of  the 
government  by  cutting  off  the  supply  of  assignats.  The  printers 
were  kept  at  work  from  6  a.  m.  until  8  p.  m.  every  day.  A  con- 
spiracy among  the  printers  was  discovered  in  1796,  and  immedi- 
ately four  workmen  were  arrested  on  the  charge  of  "  arousing  the 
workmen  employed  in  fal)ricating  assignats  to  cease  work,  thus 
making  all  offices  bankrupt,  and  causing  the  overthrow  of  the  re- 
public !  ■'  By  a  decree  of  the  i8th  Brumaire,  year  IV.,  the  directory 
ordered  the  erection  of  a  new  paper  mill,  in  order  that  there  might 
be  on  hand  a  sufficient  supply  of  paper  for  the  rapid  fabrication  of 
assignats.^ 

The  end  of  this  state  of  things  is  admirably  expressed  in  the 
following  paragraph  : 

"  X^uthing  but  bankruptcy  could  end  this  state  of  things;  it 

"  The    folluwiii.L,''   taljic.    from    Stourm.    "  f,cs    Fiiumcrs   dc   Vancicnnc    rc:j,img 
I'l  dc  Lt   R.'z;'!uli'>ii,"   vol.    11.,   p.  Jii,   sho\v>   the   issues   <if  a^si.s^nals   under  the 


428  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

cost  you  800  francs  to  drive  across  Paris  and  1000  francs  to  get  a 
decent  meal  at  a  restaurant.  But  the  double  bankruptcy  of  1797 
(February  4  and  September  30)  was  made  in  the  most  cynical  man- 
ner. First,  the  law  of  February  4  demonetized  35  milliards  of  notes 
which  the  state  had  expressly  pledged  itself  to  redeem  in  cash; 
then  the  Faillit  du  Tiers  Consolide  consummated  the  ruin  of  the 
hapless  creditor  who  had  carefully  preserved  his  credentials  of 
shares  in  the  national  debt:  for  the  119  millions  then  inscribed  on 
the  Grand  Livre  (so-called)  of  1793  the  directory  simply  took  its 
bill  and  wrote  43,  thus  striking  out  an  annual  debt  of  76,  or  a  capi- 
tal of  1500  millions.  By  the  same  law  of  September  30  the  annui- 
ties and  pensions  were  also  reduced  by  two-thirds,  and  thereby  400 
millions  added  to  the  bankruptcy.  Thus,  in  the  spring,  France 
failed  for  thirty-five  milliards  and  in  the  autumn  for  almost  two 
milliards  more.* 

various  governments,  and  their  values,  as  compiled  from  the  best-known 
sources  in  1797: 

Amount  issued  Value  on  date 

Named  Per  Cent. 

The  Constituent  Assembly,  1800  millions     .      .      .     1790,  Jan.,  96 

1796,  July,  95 

1791,  Jan.,  91 

1791,  July,  87 
Legislative  Assembly,  900  millions 1791,  Oct.,  84 

1792,  Jan.,  T2 

1792,  July,  61 
The  National  Convention,  7278  millions     .      .      .     1792,  Sept.,  72 

1793,  Jan.,  51 

1793.  July.  23 

1794,  Jan.,  40 

1794,  July,  34 

1795,  Jan.,  18 

1795,  July  2,         2.97 

The   Directory,    35,603    millons 1795,  Nov.  3,  -87 

1796,  Jan.  I,  .54 
1796,  Feb.  I,  .44 
1796,  Feb.  22,  .29 

4  J.  R.  Moreton-Macdonald,  "The  Debt  and  Deficit  and  the  Financial  Con- 
ditions of  France,  1789-1795";  appendix  to  Fletcher's  edition  of  Carlyle,  "French 
Revolution,"  vol.  III.  p.  341.  Other  admirable  accounts  of  the  assignats  and 
mandates  of  the  French  Revolution  are  Andrew  D.  White :  "  Fiat  Money  Infla- 
tion in  France:  How  it  Came,  what  it  Brought,  and  how  it  Fnded."  N.  Y.,  D. 
Appleton  &  Co.,  1896;  Levasseux :  "  Histoire  des  classes  ouvricrcs  avant  1789," 
vol.  I.  ch.  6.  Von  Sybel  is  excellent  upon  all  financial  and  economic  questions, 
Iiiit  his  treatment  is  scattered  throughout  many  pages. 


PART  VI 

THE  EPOCH  OF  NAPOLEON.     NOVEMBER  10, 
1799-JUNE  18,  1815 


Chapter   XVII 

NAPOLEON  AND  THE  CONSULATE.     NOVEMBER  lo, 

1799-DECEMBER   2,    1804 

THE  1 8th  Briimaire  had  immense  popularity.  People  did 
not  perceive  in  this  event  the  elevation  of  a  single  man 
above  the  councils  of  the  nation ;  they  did  not  see  in  it  the 
end  of  the  great  movement  of  July  14,  which  had  commenced  the 
national  existence. 

The  1 8th  Brumaire  assumed  an  aspect  of  hope  and  restoration. 
Although  the  nation  was  much  exhausted  and  little  capable  of  en- 
during a  sovereignty  oppressive  to  it,  and  which  had  even  become 
the  object  of  its  ridicule,  since  the  lower  class  had  exercised  it,  yet 
it  considered  despotism  so  improbable  that  no  one  seemed  to  it  to  be 
in  a  condition  to  reduce  it  to  a  state  of  subjection.  All  felt  the 
need  of  being  restored  by  a  skillful  hand,  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
as  a  great  man  and  a  victorious  general,  seemed  suited  for  the  task. 

On  this  account  almost  everyone,  except  the  directorial  repub- 
licans, declared  in  favor  of  the  events  of  that  day.  Violation  of  the 
laws  and  coups  d'etat  had  occurred  so  frequently  during  the  revolu- 
tion that  people  had  become  accustomed  to  no  longer  judge  them 
by  their  legality,  but  by  their  consequences.  From  the  party  of 
Sieyes  down  to  the  royalists  of  1788  everyone  congratulated  him- 
self on  the  i8th  Brumaire  and  attributed  to  himself  the  future  polit- 
ical advantages  of  this  change.  The  moderate  constitutionalists 
believed  that  definitive  liberty  would  be  established  ;  the  royalists  fed 
themselves  with  hope  by  inappropriately  comparing  this  epoch  of 
the  revolution  with  the  epoch  of  iT/^o  in  the  luiglish  Revolution, 
with  the  hope  that  Bonaparte  was  assuming  the  part  of  IMonk,  and 
tliat  he  would  soon  restore  tlie  monarchy  of  the  Bourbons;  the  mass, 
possessing  little  intelligence  and  desirous  of  repose,  relied  on  the  re- 
turn of  order  under  a  ]-)owcrful  protector ;  the  proscribed  classes  and 
ambitious  men  expected  from  him  their  amnesty  or  elevation.  Dur- 
ing the  three  months  which  followed  the  i8th  Brumaire  approbation 
and  expectation  were  general.     A  prox'isional  government  had  been 

431 


482  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

appointed,  composed  of  three  consuls,  Bonaparte,  Sieyes,  and  Roger- 
Ducos,  with  two  legislative  commissioners,  intrusted  to  prepare  the 
constitution  and  a  definite  order  of  things.  Talleyrand  was  minister 
of  foreign  affairs,  Cambaceres  minister  of  justice,  Gaudin  minister 
of  finance,  General  Berthier  minister  of  war,  the  Admiral  Forfait 
minister  of  marine,  and  Laplace  minister  of  the  interior. 

The  consuls  and  the  two  commissioners  were  installed  on  the 
2 1  St  Brumaire.  This  provisional  government  abolished  the  law 
respecting  hostages  and  compulsory  loans ;  it  permitted  the  return 
of  the  priests  proscribed  since  the  i8th  Fructidor;  it  released  from 
prison  and  sent  out  of  the  republic  the  emigrants  who  had  been 
shipwrecked  on  the  coast  of  Calais  and  who  for  four  years  were  cap- 
tives in  France  and  were  exposed  to  the  heavy  punishment  of  the 
emigrant  army.  The  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy  was  replaced 
by  the  requirement  of  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  state.  Other  politic 
acts  included  the  accord  of  funeral  honors  to  Pius  VL,  who  had 
died  at  Valence,  and  the  complete  pacification  of  La  Vendee  through 
the  mediation  of  the  Abbe  Bernier.  All  these  measures  were  very 
favorably  received.  But  public  opinion  revolted  at  a  proscription  put 
in  force  against  the  extreme  republicans.  Thirty-six  of  them  \vere 
sentenced  to  transportation  to  Guiana  and  twenty-one  were  put 
under  surveillance  in  the  department  of  Charante-Inferieure,  merely 
by  a  decree  of  the  consuls  on  the  report  of  Fouche,  minister  of 
police.  The  public  viewed  unfavorably  all  who  attacked  the  gov- 
ernment; but  at  the  same  time  it  exclaimed  against  an  act  so  arbi- 
tary  and  unjust.  The  consuls  accordingly  recoiled  before  their  own 
act;  they  first  commuted  transportation  into  surveillance,  and  soon 
withdrew  surveillance  itself. 

It  was  not  long  before  a  rupture  broke  out  between  the  authors 
of  the  1 8th  Brumaire.  During  their  provisional  authority  it  did 
not  create  much  noise,  because  it  took  place  in  the  legislative  com- 
missions. The  new  constitution  was  the  cause  of  it.  Sieyes  and 
Bonaparte  could  not  agree  on  this  subject:  the  former  wished  to 
institute  France,  the  latter  to  govern  it  as  a  master. 

The  constitution  of  Sieyes,  which  was  distorted  in  the  consular 
constitution  of  the  year  VIIL,  deserves  to  be  known,  were  it  only 
in  the  light  of  a  legislative  curiosity.  Sieyes  distributed  France 
into  three  political  divisions:  the  commune,  the  province  or  depart- 
ment, and  the  state.  Each  had  its  own  powers  of  administration 
and  judicature,  arranged  in  hierarchical  order:  the  first,  the  munici- 


THE     CONSULATE  433 

1799 

palities  and  tribunaux  de  paix  and  de  premiere  instance;  the  second, 
the  popular  prefectures  and  courts  of  appeal ;  the  third,  the  central 
government  and  the  court  of  cassation.  To  fill  the  functions  of  the 
commune,  the  department,  and  the  state  there  were  three  budgets  of 
notability,  the  members  of  which  were  only  candidates  nominated 
by  the  people. 

The  executive  power  was  vested  in  the  proclamateur  electeur, 
a  superior  functionary,  perpetual,  without  responsibility,  deputed 
to  represent  the  nation  without  and  to  form  the  government  in  a 
deliberating  state-council  and  a  responsible  ministry.  The  pro- 
claimer-general  selected  from  the  list  of  candidates,  judges  from 
the  tribunals  of  peace  to  the  court  of  cassation ;  administrators,  from 
the  mayors  to  the  ministers.  But  he  was  incapable  of  governing 
himself;  power  was  directed  by  the  state-council,  exercised  by  the 
ministry. 

The  legislature  departed  from  the  form  hitherto  established; 
it  ceased  to  be  a  deliberative  assembly  to  become  a  judicial  court. 
Before  it  the  council  of  state,  in  the  name  of  the  government,  and 
the  tribunate  in  the  name  of  the  people,  pleaded  their  respective  pro- 
jects. Its  sentence  was  law.  It  would  seem  that  the  object  of 
Sieyes  was  to  put  a  stop  to  the  violent  usurpations  of  party,  and 
while  placing  the  sovereignty  in  the  people  to  give  it  limits  in  itself; 
this  design  appears  from  the  complicated  works  of  his  political 
machine.  The  primary  assemblies,  composed  of  the  tenth  of  the 
general  population,  nominated  the  local  list  of  communal  candi- 
dates ;  electoral  colleges,  also  nominated  by  them,  selected  from  the 
communal  list  the  superior  list  of  provincial  candidates,  and  from 
the  provincial  list  the  list  of  national  candidates.  In  all  which  con- 
cerned the  government  there  was  a  reciprocal  control.  The 
proclaimer-general  selected  his  functionaries  from  among  the  candi- 
dates nominated  by  the  people ;  and  the  people  could  dismiss  func- 
tionaries, by  not  keeping  them  on  the  list  of  candidates,  which  were 
renewed,  the  first  every  two  years,  the  second  every  five  years,  the 
third  every  ten  years.  But  the  proclaimer-general  did  not  interfere 
in  the  nomination  of  tribunes  and  legislators,  whose  attributes  were 
purely  popular. 

Yet.  to  place  a  counterpoise  in  the  heart  of  this  authority  itself. 
Sieyes  separated  the  initiative  and  the  discussion  of  the  law,  which 
was  invested  in  the  tribunate,  from  its  adoption,  which  belonged  to 
the  legislative  assembly.     But  besides  these  different  prerogatives, 


434  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

the  legislative  body  and  the  tribunate  were  not  elected  in  the  same 
manner.  The  tribunate  was  composed  by  right  of  the  first  hundred 
members  of  the  national  list,  while  the  legislative  body  was  chosen 
directly  by  the  electoral  colleges.  The  tribunes,  being  necessarily 
more  active,  bustling,  and  popular,  were  appointed  for  life,  and  by 
a  protracted  process,  to  prevent  their  arriving  in  a  moment  of  pas- 
sion, with  destructive  and  angry  projects,  as  had  hitherto  been  the 
case  in  most  of  the  assemblies.  The  same  dangers  not  existing  in 
the  other  assembly,  which  had  only  to  judge  calmly  and  disinter- 
estedly of  the  law,  its  election  was  direct  and  its  authority  transient. 

Lasth^,  there  existed,  as  the  complement  of  all  the  other  powers, 
a  conseiwatory  body,  incapable  of  ordering,  incapable  of  acting, 
intended  solely  to  provide  for  the  regular  existence  of  the  state. 
This  body  was  the  constitutional  jury,  or  conservatory  senate;  it 
was  to  be  for  the  political  law  what  the  court  of  cassation  was  to 
the  civil  law.  The  tribunate,  or  the  council  of  state,  appealed  to  it 
when  the  sentence  of  the  legislative  body  was  not  conformable  to 
the  constitution.  It  had  also  the  faculty  of  calling  into  its  own  body 
any  leader  of  the  government  who  was  too  ambitious,  or  a  tribune 
who  was  too  popular,  by  the  "  droit  d' absorption,"  and  when  sena- 
tors they  were  disqualified  from  filling  any  other  function.  In  this 
way  it  kept  a  double  watch  over  the  safety  of  the  whole  of  the 
republic  by  maintaining  the  fundamental  law  and  protecting  liberty 
against  the  ambition  of  individuals.^ 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  this  constitution,  which  seems  too 
finely  complicated  to  be  practicable,  it  must  be  granted  that  it  is  the 
production  of  considerable  strength  of  mind,  and  even  great  prac- 
tical information.  Sieyes  paid  too  little  regard  to  the  passions  of 
men ;  he  made  them  too  reasonable  as  human  beings  and  too  obedient 
as  machines.  He  wished  by  skillful  inventions  to  avoid  the  abuses 
of  human  constitutions,  and  excluded  death,  that  is  to  say.  despot- 
ism, from  whatever  quarter  it  might  come.  But  I  have  very  little 
faith  in  the  efiicacy  of  constitutions;  in  such  moments  I  believe  only 
in  the  strength  of  parties  in  their  domination  and.  from  time  to 
time,  in  tlicir  reconciliation.  But  I  must  also  admit  that  if  ever  a 
constitution  was  adapted  to  a  period  it  was  that  of  Sieyes  for  France 
in  the  year  VIII. 

After  an  experience  of  ten  years,  which  had  only  shown  exclu- 

1 'I  his  description  of  the  constitulion  of  the  year  YU\.  is  one  of  the  faniuu> 
example^  of  Mignet's  writini/. 


THE     CONSULATE  435 

1799 

sive  dominations,  after  the  violent  transition  from  the  constitiition- 
aHsts  of  1789  to  the  Girondists,  from  the  Girondists  to  the  Moun- 
tainists,  from  the  jMountainists  to  the  reactionists,  from  the  reac- 
tionists to  the  directory,  from  the  directory  to  the  councils,  from 
the  councils  to  the  military  force,  there  could  be  no  repose  or  public 
life  save  in  it.  People  were  weary  of  wornout  constitutions;  that 
of  Sieyes  was  new;  exclusive  men  were  no  longer  wanted,  and  by 
elaborate  voting-  it  prevented  the  sudden  accession  of  counter-revo- 
lutionists, as  at  the  beginning  of  the  directory,  or  of  ardent  demo- 
crats, as  at  the  end  of  this  government.  It  was  a  constitution  of 
moderate  men.  suited  to  terminate  a  revolution  and  to  settle  a  nation. 
But  precisely  because  it  was  a  constitution  of  moderate  men,  pre- 
cisely because  parties  had  no  longer  sufficient  ardor  to  demand  a 
law  of  domination,  for  that  very  reason  there  would  necessarily  be 
found  a  man  stronger  than  the  fallen  parties  and  the  moderate 
legislators  who  would  refuse  this  law,  or,  accepting,  abuse  it,  and 
this  was  what  happened. 

Napoleon  took  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  constituent 
committee;  with  his  instinct  of  power  he  seized  upon  everything  in 
the  ideas  of  Sieyes  which  was  calculated  to  seiwe  his  projects  and 
caused  the  rest  to  be  rejected.  Sieyes  intended  for  him  the  functions 
of  grand  elector,  with  a  revenue  of  six  millions  of  francs  and  a 
guard  of  three  thousand  men,  the  palace  of  Versailles  for  a  resi- 
dence and  the  entire  external  representation  of  the  republic.  But 
the  actual  government  was  to  be  invested  in  two  consuls,  one  of 
v>ar,  the  other  of  peace,  functionaries  unthought  of  by  Sieyes  in  the 
year  III.  but  adopted  by  him  in  the  year  VIIL,  in  order,  no  doubt, 
to  suit  the  idea  of  the  times.  This  insignificant  magistracy  was  far 
from  suiting  Napoleon.  "  ITow  could  you  suppose,"  said  he,  "  that 
a  man  of  anv  talent  and  lionor  could  resign  liimself  to  the  part  of 
fattening  like  a  hog  on  a  few  millions  a  year?  "  From  that  moment 
it  was  not  again  mentioned:  Roger-Ducos  and  the  greater  part  of 
tb.c  committee  declared  in  favor  of  Bonaparte;  Sieyes,  who  hated 
discussion,  was  either  unwilling  or  unable  to  defend  his  ideas.  He 
saw  that  laws,  men,  and  France  itself  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  man 
whose  elevation  lie  had  jiromotcd. 

On  Decemlier  24.  1799  (Nivose.  year  \^III.),  forty-five  days 
after  the  i8th  Brumaire,  was  published  the  constitution  of  the  year 
VI 11. :  it  was  composed  of  the  wrecks  of  that  (^f  Sieyes,  now  become 
a  Cdii-tii'jtii  m.   (if  ^cr\'itu(k'.      Tiie  gox-ernmcnt    was  j^laced    in   the 


436  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799 

hands  of  the  first  consul,  who  was  supported  by  two  others,  having 
a  dehberative  voice.  The  senate,  primarily  selected  by  the  consuls, 
chose  the  members  of  the  tribunal  and  legislative  body  from  the  list 
of  the  national  candidates.  The  government  alone  had  the  initiative 
in  making  the  laws.  Accordingly,  there  were  no  more  bodies  of 
electors  who  appointed  the  candidates  of  different  lists,  the  tribunes 
and  legislators;  no  more  independent  tribunes  earnestly  pleading 
the  cause  of  the  people  before  the  legislative  assembly ;  no  legislative 
assembly  arising  directly  from  the  bosom  of  the  nation  and  account- 
able to  it  alone — in  a  word,  no  political  nation.  Instead  of  all  this 
there  existed  an  all-powerful  consul,  disposing  of  armies  and  of 
power,  a  general  and  a  dictator;  a  council  of  state  destined  to  be 
the  advance  guard  of  usurpation ;  and  lastly,  a  senate  of  eighty 
members  whose  only  function  was  to  nullify  the  people  and  to  choose 
tribunes  without  authority  and  legislators  who  should  remain  mute. 
Life  passed  from  the  nation  to  the  government.  The  constitution 
of  Sieyes  served  as  a  pretext  for  a  bad  order  of  things.  It  is  worth 
notice  that  up  to  the  year  VIII.  all  the  constitutions  had  emanated 
from  the  Contrat-social,  and  that  subsequently,  down  to  1814,  from 
the  constitution  of  Sieyes. 

The  new  government  was  immediately  installed.  Napoleon 
was  first  consul,  and  he  united  wath  him  as  second  and  third  consuls 
Cambaceres,  a  lawyer  and  formerly  a  member  of  the  Plain  in  the 
convention,  and  Le  Brun,  formerly  a  coadjutor  of  the  Chancellor 
Maupeou.  By  their  means  he  hoped  to  influence  the  revolutionists 
and  moderate  royalists.  With  the  same  object  the  ex-nobleman, 
Talleyrand,  and  the  ex-Mountainist,  Fouche,  were  appointed  to  the 
posts  of  minister  of  foreign  affairs  and  minister  of  police.  Sieyes 
felt  much  repugnance  at  employing  Fouche,  but  Napoleon  willed  it. 
"  We  are  forming  a  new  epoch,"  said  he ;  "  we  must  forget  all  the 
ill  of  the  past  and  remember  only  the  good."  He  cared  very  little 
under  what  banner  men  had  hitherto  served,  provided  they  now 
enlisted  under  his  and  summoned  thither  their  old  associates  in 
royalism  and  in  revolution. 

The  two  new  consuls  and  the  retiring  consuls  nominated  sixty 
senators  without  waiting  for  the  lists  of  eligibility;  the  senators 
appointed  a  hundred  tribunes  and  three  hundred  legislators;  and 
the  authors  of  the  i8th  Bramaire  distributed  among  themselves  the 
functions  of  the  state  as  the  booty  of  their  victory.  It  is,  however, 
just  to  say  that  the  moderate  liberal  party  prevailed  in  this  partition, 


THE     CONSULATE  437 

1799 

and  that  as  long  as  it  preserved  any  influence  Bonaparte  governed 
in  a  mild,  advantageous,  and  republican  manner.  The  constitution 
of  the  year  VIII.  was  approved  by  3,01 1,007  citizens.  The  negative 
vote  was  only  1567.  That  of  1793  had  obtained  1,801,918  suf- 
frages, and  that  of  the  year  III.  1,057,390.  The  new  law  satisfied 
the  moderate  masses,  who  sought  tranquillity  rather  than  guaran- 
tees; while  the  code  of  '93  had  only  found  partisans  among  the 
lower  class;  and  that  of  the  year  III.  had  been  equally  rejected  by 
the  royalists  and  democrats.  The  constitution  of  1791  alone  had 
obtained  general  approbation;  and,  without  having  been  subjected 
to  individual  acceptance,  had  been  sworn  to  by  all  France. 

The  first  consul,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  republic, 
made  offers  of  peace  to  England,  which  were  refused.  He  naturally 
wished  to  assume  an  appearance  of  moderation,  and,  previous  to 
treating,  to  confer  on  his  government  the  luster  of  new  victories. 
Napoleon  wrote  two  letters  in  person,  one  to  the  emperor,  the 
other  to  the  regent  for  George  III.  in  England,  proposing  peace. 
But  England  was  desirous  of  continuing  the  war,  not  merely  be- 
cause of  her  ancient  hostility  to  France,  but  at  this  time  in  the  hope 
of  acquiring  more  of  the  colonies  of  France  and  Holland.  Paul  I. 
of  Russia  withdrew  from  the  coalition,  Prussia  remained  neutral, 
and  this  also  was  the  inclination  of  Spain.  Austria  alone  of  the 
great  powers  adhered  to  the  English  alliance. 

English  historians,  however,  are  skeptical  of  the  sincerity  of 
Napoleon's  overtures  for  a  peace  at  this  time,  pointing  out  that 
"  the  forces  of  Austria  and  southern  Germany  had  held  their  own 
on  the  Rhine,  and  had  driven  the  French  from  all  Italy  except 
Genoa  and  its  coast-line;  while  British  squadrons  had  taken 
Minorca,  were  on  the  point  of  reducing  Malta  by  blockade,  and 
kept  a  French  army  imprisoned  in  the  sands  of  Egypt.  Peace  un- 
der such  conditions  could  only  have  been  damaging  to  the  prestige 
of  Bonaparte's  new  rule;  but  the  sending  of  these  overtures  for 
peace — and  again  to  George  III.  after  Marengo — enabled  him  to 
pose  as  the  would-be  pacifier  of  a  world  weary  of  strife,  while  their 
rejection  speedily  rallied  around  him  the  warlike  enthusiasm  of 
France.''  ^  The  continuance  of  the  war  was  therefore  decided  on, 
and  the  consuls  made  a  remarkable  proclamation,  in  which  they 
appealed  to  sentiments  new  to  the  nation.  Hitherto  it  had  been 
called  to  arms  in  defense  of  liberty;  now  they  began  to  excite  it  in 
the  name  of  honor:  ''  Frenchmen,  you  wish  for  peace.  Your  gov- 
-  Rose,  '■  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  Era,"  p.  124. 


438  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1800 

ernment  desires  it  with  still  more  ardor:  its  foremost  hopes,  its 
constant  efforts,  have  been  in  favor  of  it.  The  English  ministry 
rejects  it ;  the  English  ministry  has  betrayed  the  secret  of  its  hor- 
rible policy.  To  rend  France,  to  destroy  its  navy  and  ports,  to 
efface  it  from  the  map  of  Europe,  or  reduce  it  to  the  rank  of  a  sec- 
ondary power,  to  keep  the  nations  of  the  Continent  at  variance,  in 
order  to  seize  on  the  commerce  of  all,  and  enrich  itself  by  their 
spoils :  these  are  the  fearful  successes  for  which  England  scatters 
its  gold,  lavishes  its  promises,  and  multiplies  its  intrigues.  It  is  in 
your  power  to  command  peace;  but  to  command  it,  money,  the 
sword,  and  soldiers  are  necessary;  let  all,  then,  hasten  to  pay  the 
tribute  they  owe  to  their  common  defense.  Let  our  young  citizens 
arise;  they  no  longer  take  arms  for  factions,  or  for  the  choice  of 
tyrants,  but  for  the  security  of  what  they  hold  most  dear;  it  is  for 
the  honor  of  France,  and  for  the  sacred  interests  of  humanity." 

Holland  and  Switzerland  had  been  sheltered  during  the  pre- 
ceding campaign,  for  the  victories  of  Massena  in  Switzerland  and 
of  Brune  in  Holland  had  prevented  the  invasion  of  France  without 
disarming  the  coalition.  The  first  consul  assembled  all  his  force 
on  the  Rhine  and  the  Alps.  He  gave  Moreau  the  command  of  the 
army  of  the  Rhine,  and  he  himself  marched  into  Italy.  He  set  out 
on  the  i6th  Floreal,  year  VIII.  (May  6,  i8oo),  for  that  brilliant 
campaign  which  lasted  only  forty  days.  Bonaparte's  plan  of  cam- 
paign was  as  follows :  to  drive  the  Austrians  out  of  Italy  and  south- 
ern Germany,  sending  Moreau  down  the  valley  of  the  Danube  in 
order  to  beat  back  the  Austrian  Marshal  Kray  and  prevent  all  com- 
munication with  Italy  through  Switzerland,  while  he  himself,  hav- 
ing rapidly  organized  an  army  in  east  central  France,  between 
Chalons-sur-Saone  and  Lyons,  in  order  to  leave  the  Austrians  un- 
certain until  the  last  moment  whether  he  intended  to  strike  them 
through  Switzerland  or  through  Italy,  planned,  by  a  sudden  cross- 
ing of  the  Saint  Bernard,  to  crush  the  Austrian  army  of  Melas 
between  his  own  and  that  of  Massena  in  Genoa.  It  was  important 
that  he  should  not  be  long  absent  from  Paris  at  the  beginning  of 
his  power,  and  especially  not  to  leave  the  war  in  a  state  of  inde- 
cision. Field  Marshal  Melas  had  130,000  men  under  arms;  he 
occupied  all  Italy.  The  republican  army  opposed  to  him  amounted 
to  only  60,000  men,  for  the  unfortunate  army  of  Massena  was 
shut  up  in  Genoa.  Melas  left  the  Field  Marshal  Lieutenant  Ott 
with   30.000  men  before  Genoa,   and   marched   against  the  corps 


NAPOLEOX     ("KOSSINC     TI 1  K     SAIXT     liKRN\i;p     FdK      11 1  K     IWASIOX     OF     ITALY 


THE     CONSULATE  439 

ISOO 

of  General  Suchet.  He  entered  Nice,  prepared  to  pass  the  Var, 
and  to  enter  Provence.  It  was  then  that  Napoleon  crossed  the 
Great  Saint  Bernard  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  40,000,  descended 
into  Italy  in  the  rear  of  Melas,  entered  Milan  on  the  i6th  Prairial 
(June  2),  and  placed  the  Anstrians  between  Suchet  and  himself. 
Melas,  whose  line  of  operation  was  broken,  quickly  fell  back  upon 
Nice  and  thence  on  to  Turin;  he  established  his  headquarters 
at  Alexandria,  and  decided  on  reopening  his  communications  by  a 
battle.  Ott  encountered  Lannes,  in  command  of  12,000  men,  on 
June  9  at  Montebello  and  was  beaten.  Two  days  later  Desaix 
joined  him,  having-  come  from  Egypt,  and  occupied  Novi  in  order 
to  block  the  road  to  Genoa.  Massena  and  Soult  made  a  desperate 
but  unsuccessful  resistance,  and  at  last,  on  the  verge  of  starvation, 
were  forced  to  surrender  Genoa  on  June  4,  ten  days  before  Napo- 
leon's victory  at  Marengo  changed  the  whole  situation. 

It  was  on  the  plain  of  Marengo,  on  June  14  (25th  Prairial), 
that  the  fate  of  Italy  was  decided ;  the  Austrians  were  overwhelmed. 
Melas  had  40,000  troops,  and  planned  to  join  battle  in  the  plains 
of  Alexandria,  in  order  that  he  would  be  able  to  use  his  cav- 
ah-y  to  advantage.  Napoleon  had  only  28,000  men,  because  he 
had  been  obliged  to  detach  many  of  them  in  order  to  block 
tlie  various  passes  through  which  the  enemy  might  advance.  The 
disparity  in  numbers  and  the  great  extent  of  the  field  covered 
forced  Napoleon,  for  one  of  the  few  times  in  his  history,  to  depart 
from  his  favorite  military  tactics,  that  of  concentrating  all  his 
strength  upon  one  single  point  of  the  enemy,  and  instead  he  spread 
the  French  army  in  a  long,  thin  line  in  the  face  of  the  Austrians. 
The  result  was  that  the  French  line  was  broken  so  completely  that 
the  oversanguine  Melas  believed  that  victory  was  in  his  grasp  and 
actually  sent  a  courier  off  to  Vienna,  reporting  the  fact;  but  just  at 
this  desperate  moment  Desaix,  who  had  heard  the  cannonading 
from  Novi,  came  up  with  6000  French  and  pulled  victory  out  of 
the  fire,  though  he  himself  was  mortally  wounded.  Marengo  is  one 
of  the  few  l)attles  in  which  Napoleon  was  truly  defeated.  How- 
ever, young  as  he  was  yet,  he  had  too  much  pride  to  admit  it, 
and  altered  or  suppressed  every  account  of  the  real  facts  of  the 
battle. 

Unable  to  force  the  passage  of  the  Bormida  by  a  victory,  the 
Austrians  were  placed  without  opportunity  of  retreat  between  the 
army  of  Suchet  and  that  of  the  first  consul.     On  the  15th  they  ob- 


440  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1800 

tained  permission  to  fall  behind  Mantau,  on  condition  of  restoring 
all  the  places  of  Piedmont,  Lombardy,  and  the  Legations ;  and  the 
victory  of  Marengo  thus  secured  possession  of  all  Italy. 

Eighteen  days  after,  Napoleon  returned  to  Paris.  He  was  re- 
ceived with  all  the  evidence  of  admiration  that  such  decided  victories 
and  prodigious  activity  could  excite ;  the  enthusiasm  was  universal. 
There  was  a  spontaneous  illumination,  and  the  crowd  hurried  to 
the  Tuileries  to  see  him.  The  hope  of  speedy  peace  redoubled  the 
public  joy.  On  the  25th  Messidor  the  first  consul  was  present  at 
the  anniversary  fete  of  July  14.  When  the  officers  presented  him 
the  standards  taken  from  the  enemy,  he  said  to  them :  "  When 
you  return  to  your  camps,  tell  your  soldiers  that  the  French  people 
expect  for  the  ist  Vendemiaire,  when  we  shall  celebrate  the  anni- 
versary of  the  republic,  either  the  proclamation  of  peace,  or,  if  the 
enemy  raise  invincible  obstacles,  fruits  of  new  victories."  Peace, 
however,  was  yet  to  be  delayed  some  time. 

The  French  garrison  at  Malta  did  not  capitulate  until  Septem- 
ber, 1800.  In  Egypt,  Kleber,  to  whom  Bonaparte  had  left  command 
upon  his  departure  for  France,  had  arranged  with  Sir  Sidney  Smith 
for  an  honorable  evacuation  of  the  country  and  the  return  of  the 
French  soldiers  in  English  vessels.  But  the  English  government 
refused  to  ratify  the  arrangements,  and  the  Turkish  army  of  80,000 
men  invaded  Egypt.  Kleber  defeated  them  in  the  battle  of  Heli- 
opolis  March  20,  1800,  but  was  himself  assassinated  by  a  Moham- 
medan fanatic  at  Cairo  on  June  14,  the  very  day  that  his  old  comrade 
in  arms,  Desaix,  was  killed  at  Marengo.  The  command  fell  to  the 
incompetent  General  Menou,  who  was  beaten  by  a  combined  force 
of  English  and  Turks  in  the  spring  of  1801.  Cairo  surrendered 
in  June  and  Alexandria  capitulated  in  September,  1801.  The 
French  troops  were  taken  back  to  France  by  the  English. 

In  the  interim  between  the  victory  of  Marengo  and  the  general 
pacification,  the  first  consul  turned  his  attention  chiefly  to  settling 
the  people,  and  to  diminishing  the  number  of  malcontents,  by  em- 
ploying the  displaced  factions  in  the  state.  He  was  very  concilia- 
tory to  those  parties  who  renounced  their  systems,  and  very  lavish 
of  favors  to  those  chiefs  who  renounced  their  parties.  As  it  was  a 
time  of  selfishness  and  indifference,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  suc- 
ceeding. The  proscribed  of  the  i8th  Fructidor  were  already  re- 
called, with  the  exception  of  a  few  royalist  conspirators,  such  as 
Pichegru    and  Willot.     Napoleon  even  employed  those  of  the  ban- 


THE     CONSULATE  441 

1800 

ished  who,  like  Portalis,  Simeon,  Barbe-Marbois,  had  shown  them- 
selves more  anti-conventionalists  than  counter-revolutionists.  A 
senatus  consul fum  of  April  i6,  1802,  recalled  150,000  emigrants. 
Exception  was  made,  however,  of  those  bishops  who  had  been 
"  recalcitrant,"  and  members  of  the  Bourbon  house,  and  any  who 
held  rank  in  foreign  armies.  The  alienations  of  the  revolution 
remained  irrevocable,  but  those  whose  property  had  not  yet  been 
sold  recovered  it,  save  the  forests,  which  became  a  portion  of  the 
domain  of  the  state.  He  had  also  gained  over  opponents  of  an- 
other description.  The  late  leaders  of  La  Vendee,  the  famous 
Bernier,  cure  of  Saint-Lo,  who  had  assisted  in  the  whole  insurrec- 
tion, Chatillon,  D'Autichamp,  and  Suzannet,  had  come  to  an  accom- 
modation by  the  Treaty  of  Alont  Lugon  (January  17,  1800).  He 
also  addressed  himself  to  the  leaders  of  the  Breton  bands,  Georges 
Cadoudal,  Frotte,  Lapre\elaye,  and  Bounnont.  The  two  last  alone 
consented  to  submit.  Frotte  was  surprised  and  shot;  Georges 
Cadoudal,  defeated  at  Grand  Champ  by  General  Brune,  refused  to 
submit  and  retired  to  England.  The  western  war  was  thus  defin- 
itively terminated. 

But  the  Chouans,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  England  and  whose 
only  hope  was  in  the  death  of  him  who  now  concentrated  the  power 
of  the  revolution,  projected  his  assassination.  A  few  of  them  dis- 
embarked on  the  coast  of  France  and  secretly  repaired  to  Paris. 
As  it  was  not  easy  to  reach  the  first  consul,  they  decided  on  a  con- 
spiracy truly  horrible.  On  the  3d  Nivose,  at  eight  in  the  even- 
ing, Napoleon  was  to  go  to  the  Opera  by  the  Rue  Saint-Nicaise. 
The  conspirators  placed  a  barrel  of  powder  on  a  little  truck,  which 
obstructed  the  carriage  way,  and  one  of  them,  named  Saint  Regent, 
was  to  set  fire  to  it  as  soon  as  he  received  a  signal  of  the  first  con- 
sul's approach.  At  the  appointed  time,  Napoleon  left  the  Tuileries, 
and  crossed  the  Rue  Nicaise.  His  coachman  was  skillful  enough  to 
drive  rapidly  between  the  truck  and  the  wall;  but  the  match  was 
already  alight,  and  the  carriage  had  scarcely  reached  the  end  of  the 
street  when  the  infernal  machine  exploded,  covered  the  quarter 
Saint  Nicaise  with  ruins,  shaking  the  carriage  and  breaking  its 
windows. 

The  police,  taken  by  surprise,  though  directed  by  Fouche, 
attributed  this  plot  to  the  democrats,  against  whom  the  first  consul 
had  a  much  more  decided  antipathy  than  against  the  Chouans. 
Many  of  them  were  imprisoned,  and  a  hundred  and  thirty  were 


442  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1800 

transported  by  a  simple  senatus  corisultiim,  asked  and  obtained  dur- 
ing the  night.  At  length  they  discovered  the  true  authors  of  the 
conspiracy,  some  of  whom  were  condemned  to  death.  On  this 
occasion  the  consul  caused  the  creation  of  special  military  tribunals. 
The  constitutional  party  separated  still  further  from  him,  and 
began  its  energetic  but  useless  opposition.  Lanjuinais,  Gregoire, 
who  had  courageously  resisted  the  extreme  party  in  the  convention, 
Garat,  Lambrechts,  Lenoir-Laroche,  and  Cabanis,  opposed,  in  the 
senate,  the  illegal  proscription  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  democrats; 
and  the  tribunes  Isnard,  Daunou,  Chenier,  Benjamin  Constant, 
Bailleul,  and  Chazal,  opposed  the  special  courts.  But  a  glorious 
peace  threw  into  the  shade  this  new  encroachment  of  power. 

The  Austrians,  conquered  at  Marengo  and  defeated  in  Ger- 
many by  Moreau,  determined  to  lay  down  arms.  Moreau  had 
crossed  the  Rhine  on  May  i  and  after  four  engagements  reached 
Augsburg,  driving  the  Austrians  upon  Ulm  and  thereby  making  it 
impossible  for  them  to  communicate  with  Italy.  This  was  the 
moment  when  Napoleon  drew  away  18,000  of  his  troops.  But 
for  fear  of  getting  too  deep  into  the  enemy's  country,  Moreau 
retraced  his  steps,  crossed  the  Danube  above  Ulm,  and  defeated 
the  enemy  at  Hochstadt,  on  almost  the  same  spot  where  Marl- 
borough defeated  the  French  in  1704,  and  then  signed  an  armis- 
tice with  the  Austrians,  pending  the  settlement  of  terms  of 
peace  if  possible.  At  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  Austria  had 
undertaken  not  to  make  terms  of  peace  without  the  consent  of 
England,  and  the  latter  power  now  proposed  conditions  which 
France  refused  to  accept.  Hostilities  were  renewed  on  November 
28.  Moreau  was  at  Munich  with  50,000  men,  awaiting  the  ad- 
vance of  the  Austrians  under  the  Archduke  John,  younger  brother 
of  the  Archduke  Charles.  The  battle  of  Hohenlinden  was  fought 
on  December  3 — the  most  brilliant  victory  in  the  military  career  of 
Moreau.  The  Austrians  lost  8000  men,  killed  or  wounded,  with 
12,000  prisoners,  300  wagons,  and  87  cannon.  The  way  was  opened 
to  Vienna,  and  the  imperial  government  signed  the  armistice  of 
Steyer  on  December  25. 

On  January  8,  1801,  the  republic,  the  cabinet  of  Vienna,  and 
the  empire  concluded  the  Treaty  of  Luneville.  Austria  ratified  all 
the  conditions  of  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio,  and  also  ceded 
Tuscany  to  the  young  Duke  of  Parma.  The  empire  recognized 
the  independence  of  the  Batavian,  Helvetian,  Ligurian,  and  Cisal- 


THE     CONSULATE  443 

1801 

pine  republic?;.  The  terms  of  Liineville  are  the  true  groundwork 
of  modern  Germany.  The  revolution  now  displays  itself,  as  in 
France  before,  as  a  movement  destructive  of  feudalism  and  yet  as  a 
force  of  real  constructiveness  as  well,  in  the  formation  of  the  mod- 
ern states  of  Germany.  Napoleon's  German  policy  is  here  marked 
out  in  its  large  lines.  First,  to  increase  Prussia  on  the  Baltic,  in 
order  to  counterbalance  Austria ;  second,  to  cut  off  Austria  from 
central  and  western  Europe;  third,  to  create  a  block  of  small  Ger- 
man states  in  the  south  and  west,  in  order  to  check  both  Austria 
and  Prussia  and  aggrandize  France  on  the  Rhine.^  Napoleon's 
mastery  of  the  situation  on  the  Continent  is  manifested  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  official  instructions :  "  You  are  forbidden  to 
entertain  any  proposition  relating  to  the  King  of  Sardinia  or  to  the 
stadtholder  or  to  the  internal  affairs  of  Batavia,  Helvetia,  or  the  Re- 
public of  Italy."  Secularization  of  ecclesiastical  states  and  mediati- 
zation,  the  euphemistic  term  to  express  the  political  destruction  of 
the  petty  German  states,  was  the  order  of  the  day  at  Luneville. 
The  arrangements  broadly  concluded  at  Luneville  were  erected 
into  law  by  the  imperial  diet  at  Frankfort,  where  the  protracted 
negotiations  were  as  shameful  as  those  which  had  prevailed  at 
Rastatt.  Germany  was  transformed.  Of  the  preexisting  ecclesi- 
astical estates  there  were  left  only  the  Elector  of  ^lainz,  and  the 
grand  masters  of  the  order  of  Saint  John  and  the  Teutonic  knights : 
forty-two  imperial  cities  lost  their  liberty,  only  Lubeck,  Hamburg, 
Bremen,  Frankfort,  Augsburg,  and  Nuremburg  being  left.  All 
other  ecclesiastical  states,  even  the  electorates  of  Treves  and  Co- 
logne, were  abolished.  In  their  place  four  new  electors  appeared, 
morally  dependent  upon  France  for  their  dignities:  Baden,  Wur- 
temberg,  Salzburg,  and  Hesse-Cassel.  By  secularization  and  medi- 
atization  Bavaria  was  enlarged  by  the  bishoprics  of  Wurtemberg. 
Bamberg,  Augsburg,  and  Friesing;  Baden  by  that  portion  of  the 
Palatinate  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  including  Heidelberg 
and  ^klannhcim,  with  portions  of  the  bislioprics  of  Constance, 
Basel,  Strasburg,  and  Spires;  Wurtemberg  received  all  imperial 
cities,  ab1)eys,  and  monasteries  within  its  limits.  The  favor  of 
Prussia  was  bought  by  gift  of  tlie  bislioprics  of  Paderborn,  Hildes- 
heim,  and  the  Thuringian  portion  of  the  old  archbishopric  of 
Mainz,  together  with  the  abbeys  of  ^liuister  and  Ouedlinburg;  Old- 
enbcrg  was  given  the  bishopric  of  Lubeck:  Hesse  was  enriched  by 
the  gift  of  Darmstadt  and  Cassel  and  former  portions  of  Mainz, 
s  Sec   iMshcr,  "  Napoleonic   Germany,"   1903. 


444  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1801-1802 

Treves,  and  Cologne,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine.  Nassau  re- 
ceived the  secularized  abbey  of  Osnabruck.  For  the  losses  in  Italy 
which  the  Hapsburg  princes  suffered  the  Duke  of  Tuscany  received 
Salzburg  and  Berchtesgaden,  the  Italian  duchy  passing  to  Parma; 
and  the  Duke  of  Modena  was  given  the  Breisgau,  in  exchange  for 
which  Austria  received  the  secularized  bishoprics  of  Trent  and 
Brixen.  The  emperor  and  the  empire  consented  to  the  cession  of  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine  to  France.  Germany  lost  25,180  square 
miles  (including  Belgium)  and  three  and  a  half  millions  of 
inhabitants. 

The  pacification  soon  became  general,  by  the  Treaty  of  Flor- 
ence (February  18,  1801)  with  the  King  of  Naples,  who  ceded 
the  Isle  of  Elba  and  the  principality  of  Piombino,  by  the  Treaty  of 
Madrid  (September  29,  1801),  by  which  Spain  ceded  Louisiana 
to  France  in  exchange  for  the  kingdom  of  Etruria  in  Italy,  which 
was  given  to  the  Spanish  Bourbon  prince,  and  further  engaged  to 
compel  Portugal  to  renounce  her  alliance  with  England ;  by  the 
Treaty  of  Paris  (October  8,  1801)  with  the  Emperor  of  Russia; 
and,  lastly,  by  the  preliminaries  (October  9,  1801)  with  the  Otto- 
man Porte.  The  Continent,  by  ceasing  hostilities,  compelled  Eng- 
land to  a  momentary  peace.  Pitt,  Dundas,  and  Lord  Grenville, 
who  had  maintained  these  sanguinary  struggles  with  France,  went 
out  of  office  when  their  system  ceased  to  be  followed.  The  oppo- 
sition replaced  them ;  and,  on  March  25,  1802,  the  Treaty  of  Amiens 
completed  the  pacification  of  the  world.  England  consented  to  all 
the  continental  acquisitions  of  the  French  republic,  recognized  the 
existence  of  the  secondary  republics,  and  restored  the  French 
colonies. 

Aside  from  being  deserted  by  her  continental  allies,  there  were 
internal  conditions  which  influenced  England  to  make  peace.  Hard 
times  prevailed,  owing  to  a  bad  harvest  and  the  enormous  ex- 
penses of  the  war.  The  public  debt  had  increased  since  1793  to 
28o,ooo>ooo/.  Moreover,  England's  point  of  view  had  partially 
changed.  She  had  now  a  new  colonial  empire  to  compensate  her 
for  the  commercial  losses  caused  by  the  French  occupation  of  Bel- 
gium and  Holland  and  other  points  in  Europe.  Ceylon,  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  and  Trinidad,  were  rich  rewards  for  her  losses. 
It  is  doubtful,  though,  if  England  ever  would  have  consented  to 
this  peace  had  Pitt  still  been  at  the  helm.  But  Pitt  had  retired 
from  the  ministry  in  February,  1801,  because  the  British  govern- 


THE     CONSULATE  445 

1799-1804 

ment  had  failed  to  keep  its  word,  after  the  union  of  Ireland  and 
Great  Britain,  in  the  matter  of  CathoHc  exclusion  from  office.* 

During  the  maritime  war  with  England  the  French  navy  had 
been  almost  entirely  ruined.  Three  hundred  and  forty  ships  had 
been  taken  or  destroyed,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  colonies 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  Saint  Domingo,  the  most 
important  of  them  all,  after  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  the  whites, 
had  continued  the  American  Revolution,  which,  having  commenced 
in  the  English  colonies,  was  to  end  in  those  of  Spain,  and  change 
the  colonies  of  the  new  world  into  independent  states.  The  blacks 
of  Saint  Domingo  wished  to  maintain,  with  respect  to  the  mother 
country,  the  freedom  which  they  had  acquired  from  the  colonists, 
and  to  defend  themselves  against  the  English.  They  were  led  by  a 
man  of  color,  the  famous  Toussaint  L'Ouverture.  France  ought 
to  have  consented  to  this  revolution,  which  had  already  cost  so 
dearly  to  humanity.  The  metropolitan  government  could  no  longer 
be  restored  at  Saint  Domingo;  and  it  became  necessary  to  obtain 
tlie  only  real  advantage  which  Europe  could  now  derive  from 
America,  by  strengthening  the  commercial  ties  with  the  old  colony. 
Instead  of  this  prudent  policy,  Bonaparte  attempted  an  expedition 
to  reduce  the  island  to  subjection.  The  French  landed  in  Saint 
Domingo  in  January,  1802.  By  j\lay  the  island  was  conquered, 
but  15,000  men  had  died  of  fever  in  two  months  and  the  army 
was  reduced  to  10,000,  and  within  a  year  the  whole  island  was 
lost  again  to  the  French,  save  the  capital  city,  in  which  they  were 
able  to  hold  out  for  no  less  than  seven  years.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  Dessalines,  a  lieutenant  of  Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  took  the 
city  and  proclaimed  himself  emperor  under  the  name  of  James  I. 

After  the  loss  of  her  fleets  the  h^rench  endeavors  to  injure  the 
maritime  power  of  England  embraced  three  policies:  first,  from 
1796  to  1798  it  endeavored  to  foment  the  rebellion  of  Ireland; 
second,  from  1798  to  1801  the  Egyptian  expedition  attempted  to 
compass  tlie  same  end ;  third,  after  the  failure  of  that  attempt  the 
League  of  Neutrals  was  formed  in  the  north  of  Euroj^e  as  a  species 
of  commercial  retaliation  upon  England.  The  idea  of  tliis  league 
was  not  originally  Nap()leon's,  though  he  was  quick  to  see  the 
advantage  to  be  afforded  by  it.     During  the  American  Revolution 

*  See  Fyffe.  "  iModern  Europe,"  vol.  I.  p.  240;  vol.  II.  pp.  39-40;  Bourgeois, 
"Manuel  Historiquc  dc  l'nlitii]Hc  Rtrair^ti-r."  vol.  II.  p.  220.  It  \va.s  the  Adding- 
ton  ministry  wliich  iieg(jtiated  the  Peace  of  Amiens. 


446  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799-1804 

Russia,  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Prussia  formed  the  northern  conven- 
tion, which  asserted  armed  neutrahty  at  sea  in  order  to  protect  the 
commerce  of  these  states  from  EngHsh  coercion.  Later,  Portugal, 
Spain,  and  France  became  parties  to  the  convention,  and  Holland 
would  have  joined  if  she  had  not  been  prevented  by  the  threat  of 
declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of  England.  Now  in  1800  the 
former  condition  of  things  had  again  arisen.  In  order  to  smite 
France,  England  had  adopted  the  policy  of  coercing  the  commerce 
of  all  other  states,  the  United  States  included.  This  led  to  a  re- 
vival of  the  old  northern  convention,  under  the  name  of  the 
League  of  Neutrals,  which  asserted  the  inviolability  of  neutral 
commerce  on  the  seas,  under  the  three  following  heads :  ( i )  free 
passage  of  neutral  ships  from  port  to  port  and  along  the  coast  of 
those  countries  engaged  in  war;  (2)  neutrality  of  flag  to  cover 
merchandise,  save  contraband  of  war;  (3)  a  blockade  to  be  bind- 
ing only  when  effective.  This  action  on  the  part  of  the  northern 
powers,  of  itself  alone,  even  though  it  had  been  of  no  benefit  to 
France,  was  sufficient  to  anger  England,  which,  in  the  spring  of 
1 80 1,  sent  a  fleet  to  bombard  Copenhagen  (April  2,  1801),  and 
forced  Denmark,  at  least,  to  retire  from  the  league. 

Napoleon  now  turned  all  his  attention  to  the  internal  pros- 
perity of  the  republic  and  the  organization  of  power.  The 
old  privileged  classes  of  the  nobility  and  the  clergy  had  returned 
into  the  state  without  forming  particular  classes.  Dissentient 
priests,  on  taking  an  oath  of  obedience,  might  conduct  their  modes 
of  worship  and  receive  their  pensions  from  the  government.  An  act 
of  pardon  had  been  passed  in  favor  of  those  accused  of  emigration; 
there  only  remained  a  list  of  about  a  thousand  names  of  those  who 
remained  faithful  to  the  family  and  the  claims  of  the  pretender. 
The  work  of  pacification  w^as  at  an  end.  Napoleon,  knowing  that 
the  surest  w^ay  of  commanding  a  nation  is  to  promote  its  happi- 
ness, encouraged  the  development  of  industry,  and  favored  external 
commerce,  which  had  so  long  been  suspended.  He  united  higher 
views  with  his  political  policy,  and  connected  his  own  glory  with 
the  prosperity  of  France;  he  traveled  through  the  departments, 
caused  canals  and  harbors  to  be  dug,  bridges  to  be  built,  roads  to 
be  repaired,  monuments  to  be  erected,  and  means  of  communica- 
tion to  be  multiplied.  Lie  especially  strove  to  become  the  protector 
and  legislator  of  private  interests.  The  civil,  penal,  and  com- 
mercial codes  which  he  formed,  wdiether  at  this  period  or  at  a  later 


T  H  E     C  O  N  S  U  L  A  T  E  447 

1799-1804 

period,  completed,  in  this  respect,  the  work  of  the  revolution,  and 
regulated  the  internal  existence  of  the  nation  in  a  manner  some- 
what more  conformable  to  its  real  condition.  Notwithstanding 
political  despotism,  France,  during  the  domination  of  Napoleon, 
had  a  private  legislation  superior  to  that  of  any  European  society; 
for  with  absolute  government,  most  of  them  still  preserved  the  civil 
condition  of  the  Middle  Ages.  General  peace,  universal  tolera- 
tion, the  return  of  order,  the  restoration,  and  the  creation  of  an 
administrative  system  soon  changed  the  appearance  of  the  republic. 
Attention  was  turned  to  the  construction  of  roads  and  canals. 
Civilization  became  developed  in  an  extraordinary  manner;  and  the 
consulate  was,  in  this  respect,  the  perfected  period  of  the  directory, 
from  its  commencement  to  the  i8th  Fructidor. 

The  administrative  organization  of  France,  made  by  Napoleon 
during  the  consulate,  remains  to  this  day  the  basis  of  the  French 
government.  The  administrative  genius  of  Napoleon  in  forming 
it  is  contrasted  with  his  wonderful  military  talent.  The  beginning 
of  the  system  may  be  said  to  be  found  in  the  decree  of  the  28th 
Pluviose,  year  VIII.,  which  centralized  the  departmental  system. 
These  grand  administrative  divisions  were  divided  into  arrondisse- 
ments,  and  these  in  turn  into  cantons  and  communes.  Each  depart- 
ment was  governed  by  a  prefect,  aided  by  a  council  of  prefectures 
composed  of  five  members,  and  a  more  general  council ;  the  arron- 
dissement  was  governed  by  a  sub-prefect,  who  also  had  a  council; 
and  each  commune  by  a  mayor  and  council.  The  canton  had  no 
separate  administration,  being  governed  as  a  commune  after  the 
manner  of  townships.  The  members  of  all  these  different  admin- 
istrations were  nominated   by  the  first  consul. 

The  judicial  organization  is  noteworthy.  Every  canton  had 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  every  arrondissement  a  civil  court  of  first 
instance.  The  consoHclation  of  se\eral  of  these  tribunals  formed  a 
superior  court,  above  which  were  twenty-nine  courts  of  appeal. 
The  jury  system  prevailed  in  criminal  processes.  Tlie  supreme 
court  of  France  was  the  cour  de  cassation,  which  heard  both  civil 
and  criminal  causes. 

]\[ore  than  any  otlicr  administrative  institution,  however,  the 
famous  Code  Civil  or  Code  Napoleon  is  the  moiuiment  of  Bona- 
parte's administrative  genius.  Tlie  beginning  oi  this  great  code 
is,  however,  due  to  tlie  convention.  Their  unfinished  laliors  were 
taken  up  by  the  first  consul,  who  appointed  a  commission  of  four  to 


448  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1799-1804 

complete  the  work.  The  whole  was  discussed  at  length,  section  by 
section,  by  the  council  of  state,  over  which  Napoleon  himself,  or 
Cambaceres,  presided.  In  these  labors  Napoleon  astonished 
everybody  by  the  originality  and  depth  of  his  knowledge.  At  the 
end  of  three  years  the  code  was  presented  to  the  tribunate  and  the 
legislative  corps  and  finally  promulgated  on  March  21,  1804. 

Napoleon  revised  the  whole  financial  administration  of 
France.  Inheriting  a  bankrupt  government  and  a  dilapidated 
financial  administration,  he  introduced  order  and  efficiency  into 
the  system  of  public  accounts.  He  appointed  a  receiver-gen- 
eral in  each  department  and  a  deputy  official  in  each  arrondisse- 
ment.  Besides  these,  there  were  840  inspectors  to  supervise  ac- 
counts and  make  suggestions  as  to  revision  of  methods  of  taxation. 

Not  the  least  of  Napoleon's  successes  was  to  have  been  able  to 
reign  for  fifteen  years  without  ever  resorting  to  the  use  of  paper 
currency.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Bank  of  France,  as  well  as 
the  present  money  system  of  the  country.  In  1801  the  national 
debt  was  reorganized,  and  put  upon  the  present  basis  of  adminis- 
tration. 

The  unfinished  educational  scheme  of  the  convention  was  also 
taken  up  by  Napoleon  and  perfected.  The  entire  system  of  educa- 
tion was  made  dependent  upon  the  government  and  organized  as 
the  University  of  France.  Primary  instruction  was  provided  in 
the  communes,  but  not  everywhere.  With  secondary  educa- 
tion the  case  was  different.  Thirty-two  lycces  were  established, 
under  a  semi-military  discipline.  Instruction  included  the  ancient 
languages  and  modern  languages  and  literature,  with  history  and 
the  sciences ;  6400  scholarships  were  created  in  favor  of  the  sons  of 
soldiers  and  public  officials,  besides  4000  other  scholarships  dis- 
posed of  by  the  first  consul  as  he  wished.  In  higlier  education 
there  were  ten  schools  of  law  and  six  schools  of  medicine,  besides 
the  College  de  France  and  the  Sorbonne,  rechristened  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris — the  old  name  being  applied  technically  only  to 
the  tlieological  school.  Besides  all  these  there  were  varit^us  techni- 
cal schools  and  the  llcole  Xormale  and  the  licole  Superieure. 

Even  the  famous  academies  of  France  did  not  escape  reorgani- 
zation, and  the  unfinished  work  of  the  convention  was  completed  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Institut  de  France.  It  is  impossible  to 
more  than  allude  to  the  work  of  Napoleon  as  a  builder,  and  es- 
pecially as  the  maker  of  the  new  Paris. 


T  H  E     C  O  N  S  U  L  A  T  E  449 

1799-1804 

It  was  more  especially  after  the  Peace  of  Amiens  that  Na- 
poleon raised  the  foundation  of  his  future  power.  He  himself  says, 
in  the  memoirs  published  under  his  name,^  "  The  ideas  of  Napo- 
leon were  fixed,  but  to  realize  them  he  required  the  assistance  of 
time  and  circumstances.  The  organization  of  the  consulate  had 
nothing  in  contradiction  with  these;  it  accustomed  the  nation  to 
unity,  and  that  was  a  first  step.  Tins  step  taken,  Napoleon  was 
indifferent  to  the  forms  and  denominations  of  the  different  con- 
stituted bodies.  lie  was  a  stranger  to  the  revolution.  It  was  his 
wisdom  to  advance  from  day  to  day,  without  deviating  from  the 
fixed  point,  the  polar  star,  which  directed  Napoleon  how  to  guide 
the  revolution  to  the  port  whither  he  wised  to  conduct  it," 

In  the  beginning  of  1802  he  was  at  one  and  the  same  time 
forming  three  great  projects,  tending  to  the  same  end.  He  sought 
to  organize  religion  and  to  establish  the  clergy,  which  as  yet  had 
only  a  religious  existence;  to  create,  by  means  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor,  a  permanent  military  order  in  the  army;  and  to  secure  his 
own  power,  first  for  his  life,  and  then  to  render  it  hereditary.  Na- 
poleon was  installed  at  the  Tuileries,  where  he  gradually  resumed 
the  customs  and  ceremonies  of  the  old  monarchy.  He  already 
thought  of  placing  intermediate  bodies  between  himself  and  the 
people.  For  some  time  past  he  had  opened  a  negotiation  with 
Pope  Pius  VII.  on  matters  of  religious  worship.  The  famous 
concordat,  which  created  ten  archbishoprics,  fifty  bishoprics,  with 
the  institution  of  chapters,  wliich  established  the  clergy  in  the 
state,  and  again  placed  it  under  the  external  monarchy  of  the  Pope, 
was  signed  at  Paris  on  July  16,  1801,  and  ratified  at  Rome  on 
August  15,  1 80 1. 

The  concordat  was  negotiated  by  Cardinal  Gonsalvi  and  Jo- 
seph Bonaparte,  with  the  assistance  of  Cretct,  councilor  of  state, 
and  the  Vendcan  priest,  Pernicr.  'J1ie  principal  other  articles  were 
as  follows:  (i)  The  church  was  to  recognize  the  laws  of  the 
state  and  no  papal  bull  cduld  be  published  and  no  council  held  with- 
out the  authorization  of  the  government.  (2)  'Jlie  ordination  of 
priests  was  conditioned  upon  age,  fortune,  and  the  number  of  those 
already  officiating.  Iliose  engaged  in  an  educational  capacity  were 
required  to  accept  the  Gallican  decrees  of  1682.  (3)  Sunday  and 
the  frequent  religious  festivals  of  the  church  were  recognized  by 

''  "  Mc})tni>-rs  ["t'v.r   scri'ir  a   l' Ilistoirc   dc   France   sous   Napoleon,   ecrtts   a 
Saiitle  Ilcleiic,"  vol.  I.  p.  248. 


450  T  PI  E     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1802 

the  g-overnment  as  days  of  rest.  (4)  Tlie  civil  marriage  was  re- 
quired in  advance  of  any  religious  ceremony,  and  indeed  the  re- 
ligious marriage  was  made  optional. 

The  same  policy  w^as  followed  by  the  government  with  ref- 
erence to  the  Protestant  cults,  both  the  Lutheran  and  the  Cal- 
vinist.  Their  churches  w^ere  grouped  into  consistories,  and  the 
nomination  of  their  pastors  had  to  be  approved  by  the  govern- 
ment, which  paid  the  salaries  of  all  clergy,  Protestant  and  Catholic. 
In  1808  this  practice  was  extended  also  to  the  Jewish  congre- 
gations. 

Napoleon,  who  had  destroyed  the  liberty  of  the  press,  created 
exceptional  tribunals,  and  wdio  had  departed  more  and  more  from 
the  principles  of  the  revolution,  felt  that  before  he  went  further  it 
was  necessary  to  break  entirely  with  the  liberal  party  of  the  i8th 
Brumaire.  In  Ventose,  year  X  (Alarch,  1802),  the  most  energetic 
of  the  tribunes  were  dismissed  by  a  simple  operation  of  the  senate. 
The  tribunate  was  reduced  to  eighty  members,  and  the  legislative 
body  underwent  a  similar  purgation.  About  a  month  after,  the 
15th  Germinal  (April  6,  1802),  Bonaparte,  no  longer  apprehensive 
of  opposition,  submitted  the  concordat  to  these  assemblies,  whose 
obedience  he  had  thus  secured,  for  their  acceptance.  They  adopted 
it  by  a  great  majority.  The  Sunday  and  four  great  religious 
festivals  were  reestablished,  and  from  that  time  the  government 
ceased  to  observe  the  system  of  decades.  This  was  the  first  at- 
tempt at  renouncing  the  republican  calendar.  Napoleon  hoped  to 
gain  the  sacerdotal  party,  always  most  disposed  to  passive  obe- 
dience, and  thus  deprive  the  royalist  opposition  of  the  clergy,  and 
the  coalition  of  the  Pope. 

The  concordat  was  inaugurated  with  great  pomp  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame.  The  senate,  the  legislative  body,  the 
tribunate,  and  the  leading  functionaries  were  present  at  this  new 
ceremony.  The  first  consul  repaired  thither  in  the  carriages  of  the 
old  court,  with  the  etiquette  and  attendants  of  the  old  monarchy; 
salvos  of  artillery  announced  this  return  of  privilege,  and  this  essay 
at  royalty.  A  pontifical  mass  was  performed  by  Caprara,  the  car- 
dinal-legate, and  the  people  were  addressed  by  proclamation  in  a 
language  to  which  they  had  long  been  unaccustomed.  "  Reason 
and  the  example  of  ages,"  ran  the  proclamation,  "  command  us  to 
have  recourse  to  the  sovereign  pontiff  to  effect  unison  of  opinion 
and  reconciliation  of  hearts.      The  head  of  the  church  has  weiglied 


THE     CONSULATE  451 

1802 

in  his  wisdom  and  for  the  interest  of  the  church,  propositions  dic- 
tated by  the  interest  of  the  state." 

In  the  evening-  there  was  an  ilhimination  and  a  concert  in  the 
gardens  of  the  Tnileries.  The  soldiery  rehictantly  attended  at  tlie 
inauguration  ceremony,  and  expressed  their  dissatisfaction  aloud. 
On  returning  to  the  palace  Napoleon  questioned  General  Delmas 
on  the  subject.  "  What  did  you  think  of  the  ceremony?  '"'  said  he. 
"  A  fine  mummery,"  was  the  reply.  "  Nothing  was  wanting  but  a 
million  of  men  slain  in  destroying  what  you  reestablish." 

A  month  after,  on  the  25th  Floreal,  year  X.  (^lay  15,  1802), 
he  presented  the  project  of  a  law  respecting  the  creation  of  a 
Legion  of  Honor.  This  legion  was  to  be  composed  of  fifteen 
cohorts,  dignitaries  for  life,  disposed  in  hierarchical  order,  having 
a  center,  an  organization,  and  revenacs.  The  first  consul  was  the 
chief  of  the  legion.  Each  cohort  was  composed  of  7  grand  officers, 
20  commanders,  30  officers,  and  350  legionaries.  Napoleon's 
object  was  to  originate  a  new  nobility.  He  thus  appealed  to  the 
ill-suppressed  sentiment  of  inequality.  While  discussing  this  pro- 
jected law  in  the  council  of  state,  he  did  not  scruple  to  an- 
nounce his  aristocratic  design.  Berlier,  counselor  of  state,  having 
disapproved  an  institution  so  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  republic, 
said  that:  "Distinctions  were  the  playthings  of  a  monarchy." 
"  I  defy  you,"  replied  the  first  consul,  "  to  show  me  a  republic, 
ancient  or  modern,  in  which  distinctions  did  not  exist:  you  call 
them  tf)ys ;  well,  it  is  bv  tnvs  tliat  men  are  led.  I  would  not  say 
as  much  to  a  tribune,  but  in  a  council  (.)f  wise  men  and  statesmen  we 
mav  speak  plainly.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  French  love  liberty 
and  equality.  The  Frencli  have  not  been  changed  by  ten  years  of 
revolution;  they  have  but  one  sentiment — honor.  That  senti- 
ment, then,  must  be  nourislicd :  they  must  have  distinctions.  See 
how  the  people  prostrate  themselves  before  the  ribbons  and  stars 
of  foreigners:  they  have  been  surprised  by  them:  and  they  do  not 
fail  to  wear  them.  All  has  been  destroyed :  the  question  is,  how  to 
restore  all.  There  is  a  government,  there  are  authorities:  but  the 
rest  of  the  nation,  what  is  it?"  Grains  of  sand.  Among  us  we 
have  tlie  old  privileged  classes,  organized  in  princii)les  and  inter- 
ests, and  knowing  well  what  they  want.  T  can  count  our  enemies. 
"Hut  we,  ourselves,  are  dis]icrscd.  without  system,  union,  or  contact. 
As  Iring  as  T  nin  here.  T  will  answer  for  the  republic;  but  we  must 
provide  Un-  the  future.       Do  you  think  the  rcpu1)lic  is  definitively 


452  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1802 

established?  If  so,  you  are  greatly  deceived.  It  is  in  our  power 
to  make  it  so;  but  we  have  not  done  it;  and  we  shall  not  do  it  if 
we  do  not  hurl  some  masses  of  granite  on  the  soil  of  France." " 
By  these  words  Napoleon  announced  a  system  of  government  op- 
posed to  that  which  the  revolution  sought  to  establish,  and  which 
the  change  in  society  demanded. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  docility  of  the  council  of  state,  the 
purgation  undergone  by  the  tribunal  and  the  legislative  body,  these 
three  bodies  vigorously  opposed  a  law  which  revived  inequality. 
In  the  council  of  state  the  Legion  of  Honor  had  only  14  votes 
against  10;  in  the  tribunal,  38  against  56;  in  the  legislative  body, 
166  against  no.  Public  opinion  manifested  a  still  greater  repug- 
nance for  this  new  order  of  knighthood.  Those  first  invested 
seemed  almost  ashamed  of  it,  and  received  it  with  a  sort  of  con- 
tempt. But  Napoleon  pursued  his  counter-revolutionary  course 
without  troubling  himself  about  a  dissatisfaction  no  longer  capable 
of  resistance. 

He  wished  to  confirm  his  power  by  the  establishment  of  privi^ 
^ege,  and  to  confirm  privilege  by  the  duration  of  his  power.  On 
the  motion  of  Chabot  de  FAllier,  the  tribunal  resolved :  "  That  the 
first  consul,  General  Bonaparte,  should  receive  a  signal  mark  of 
national  gratitude."  In  pursuance  of  this  resolution,  on  Alay  6, 
1802,  an  organic  scnatus  consul  turn  appointed  Napoleon  consul  for 
an  additional  period  of  ten  years. 

But  Bonaparte  did  not  consider  the  prolongation  of  the  con- 
sulate sufficient;  and  two  months  after,  on  August  2,  the  senate,  on 
the  decision  of  the  tribunate  and  the  legislative  body,  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  people,  consulted  by  means  of  the  public  registers, 
passed  the  following  decree: 

"  I.  The  French  people  nominate,  and  the  senate  proclaim, 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  first  consul  for  life. 

"  II.  A  statue  of  Peace,  holding  in  one  hand  a  laurel  of 
victory,  and  in  the  other,  the  decree  of  the  senate,  shall  attest  to 
posterity  the  gratitude  of  the  nation. 

"  III.  The  senate  will  convey  to  the  first  consul  the  expression 
of  the  confidence,  love,  and  admiration  of  the  French  people." 

^  This  passage  is  extracted  from  M.  Thibaudeau's  "  Memoires  of  the  Con- 
sulate." There  are  in  these  memoirs,  which  are  extremely  curious,  some 
political  conversations  of  Napoleon,  concerning  his  internal  government  and 
the  principal  sittings  of  the  council  of  state,  which  throw  much  light  upon 
tliis  epoch. 


THE     CONSULATE  453 

1802 

This  revolution  was  complete  by  adapting  to  the  consulship 
for  life,  by  a  simple  sniafits  consiiltum,  the  constitution,  already 
sufficiently  despotic,  of  the  temporary  consulship.  "  Senators," 
said  Cornudet,  on  presenting  the  new  law,  "  we  must  forever  close 
the  public  path  to  the  Gracchi.  The  wishes  of  the  citizens,  with 
respect  to  the  political  laws  they  obey,  are  expressed  by  the  general 
prosperity;  the  guarantee  of  social  rights  absolutely  places  the 
dogma  of  the  exercise  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  in  the  senate, 
which  is  the  bond  of  the  nation.  This  is  the  only  social  doctrine." 
The  senate  admitted  this  new  social  doctrine,  took  possession  of 
the  sovereignty,  and  held  it  as  a  deposit  till  a  favorable  moment 
arrived  for  transferring  it  to  Xapoleon. 

The  constitution  of  the  i6th  Thermidor,  year  X.  (August  4, 
1802),  excluded  the  people  from  the  state.  The  public  and  ad- 
ministrative functions  became  fixed,  like  those  of  the  government. 
The  electors  were  for  life.  The  first  consul  could  increase  their 
number.  The  senate  had  the  right  of  changing  institutions,  sus- 
pending the  functions  of  the  jury,  of  placing  the  departments  out 
of  the  constitution,  of  annulling  the  sentences  of  the  tribunals,  of 
dissolving  the  legislative  body  and  the  tribunate.  The  council  of 
state  was  reinforced;  the  tril)unate.  already  reduced  by  dismissals, 
was  still  sufficiently  formidaljlc  to  re(|uire  to  be  reduced  to  fifty 
members. 

Such,  in  the  course  of  two  years,  was  the  terrible  progress  of 
privilege  and  absolute  power.  Toward  the  close  of  180 J  everything 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  consul  lor  life,  who  had  a  class  devoted  to 
him  in  the  clergy;  a  military  order  in  the  Legion  of  Honor;  an 
administrative  body  in  the  council  of  state;  a  machinery  for  de- 
crees in  the  legislatix-c  assembly;  a  machinery  for  the  constitution 
in  the  senate.  Xot  daring,  ;is  yet,  to  destroy  tlie  tribniiale,  in  which 
assembly  there  arfisc,  frcni  time  to  time,  a  few  words  of  freedom 
and  o[)position,  lie  deprived  it  of  iis  most  coiu'ageous  and  elocjuent 
members  that  he  might  hear  his  will  ileclared  with  docility  in  all 
the  assemblies  of  tlie  nation. 

This  interior  pojiev  of  u.-ur])ati(»n  was  extended  beyond  the 
country.  On  August  2(\  Xa])oleon  united  the  Inland  of  hdba,  and 
on  September  1  r,  i8oj,  ricdniont,  to  the  hrcneh  territory.  On 
October  9  he  todk  posses-^ion  of  the  states  of  Parma,  left  vacant  by 
the  death  of  the  dnke  ;  and  lastly,  on  October  2T.  he  marched  into 
Switzerland  an  a.rniv  of  30.000  men,  t(j  sup])orl  a  federative  act, 


454  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1802-1803 

which  regulated  the  constitution  of  each  canton,  and  which  had 
caused  disturbances.  It  is  fair  to  say  that  Switzerland  herself  fur- 
nished Napoleon  the  opportunity,  by  making  overtures  to  him.  It 
was  erected  into  a  federal  republic  of  nineteen  cantons.  He  thus 
furnished  a  pretext  for  a  rupture  with  England,  which  had  not  sin- 
cerely subscribed  to  the  peace.  This  great  extension  of  the  power 
of  France  to  a  country  the  neutrality  of  which  had  been  guaranteed 
since  1648  angered  England.  Napoleon  retaliated  by  demanding 
the  English  withdrawal  from  Malta.  A  violent  conflict  was  waged 
between  the  English  newspapers  and  the  Moniteur,  the  articles 
of  which  were  inspired  by  Napoleon,  and  some  of  them  perhaps 
even  of  his  authorship.  The  French  government  even  accused 
England  of  protecting  the  would-be  assassins  of  the  first  consul. 
From  the  beginning  of  1803  it  was  apparent  that  the  Peace  of 
Amiens  soon  was  to  be  broken.  On  February  18  a  violent  inter- 
view took  place  between  Napoleon  and  the  British  ambassador, 
Lord  Whitworth,  in  which  Napoleon  declared:  "I  would  rather 
see  you  in  possession  of  the  heights  of  Montmartre  than  of  Malta." 
The  irritation  of  England  was  doubly  great  because  of  the  contin- 
ued occupation  of  Elba  and  Piedmont  by  France,  and  the  revolution 
wrought  in  Germany  by  the  French.  The  British  cabinet  had  only 
felt  the  necessity  of  a  momentary  suspension  of  hostilities,  and  a 
short  time  after  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  it  arranged  a  third  coalition, 
composed  of  England,  Austria,  Russia,  Sweden,  and  Naples,  as  it 
had  done  after  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio  and  at  the  time  of 
the  Congress  of  Rastatt.  The  interest  and  situation  of  England 
were  alone  of  a  nature  to  bring  about  a  rupture,  which  was  has- 
tened by  the  union  of  states  effected  by  Napoleon,  and  the  influence 
which  he  retained  over  the  neighboring  republics,  called  to  com- 
plete independence  by  the  recent  treaties.  Napoleon,  on  his  part, 
eager  for  the  glory  gained  on  the  field  of  battle,  washing  to  aggran- 
di/.e  France  by  conquests,  and  to  complete  his  own  elevation  by 
victories,  could  not  rest  satisfied  with  repose;  he  had  rejected 
liberty,  and  war  became  a  necessity. 

The  two  cabinets  exchanged  for  some  time  very  bitter  diplo- 
matic notes.  At  length,  Lord  Whitworth,  the  English  ambassador, 
left  Paris  on  the  25th  Floreal,  year  XL  (May  13,  1803).  Peace 
was  now  definitely  broken :  preparations  for  war  were  made  on 
both  sides.  On  May  26  the  French  troops  entered  the  electorate 
of  Hanover.    LTanover  was  a  continental  possession  of  the  reigning 


THE     CONSULATE  455 

1803-1804  , 

house  of  England.  At  the  same  time  the  French  troops  occupied 
Holland,  the  Italian  republics,  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  closed 
their  ports  to  English  trade,  while  in  compliance  with  the  treaties 
lately  made  Napoleon  also  demanded  the  closure  of  the  Portu- 
guese and  Spanish  ports  to  the  governments  concerned.  This  is 
the  first  attempt  at  the  famous  continental  blockade.  The  Ger- 
manic empire,  on  the  point  of  expiring,  raised  no  obstacle.  The 
emigrant  Chouan  party,  which  had  taken  no  steps  since  the  affair 
of  the  infernal  machine  and  the  continental  peace,  were  encouraged 
by  this  return  of  hostilities.  The  opportunity  seemed  favorable, 
and  it  formed  in  London,  with  the  assent  of  the  British  cabinet, 
a  conspiracy  headed  by  Pichegru  and  Georges  Cadoudal.  The  con- 
spirators disembarked  secretly  on  the  coast  of  France  and  re- 
paired with  the  same  secrecy  to  Paris.  They  communicated  with 
General  Moreau,  who  had  been  induced  by  his  wife  to  embrace  the 
republican  party.  Just  as  they  were  about  to  execute  their  project 
most  of  them  were  arrested  by  the  police,  who  had  discovered  the 
plot,  and  traced  them. 

Moreau  was  a  sturdy  republican  and  opposed  to  Napoleon's 
monarchical  ambitions.  He  had  been  interviewed  by  Pichegru, 
who  had  escaped  from  French  Guiana,  but  there  is  doubt  of 
Moreau's  actual  support  of  the  conspiracy.  At  his  trial  Moreau 
would  admit  nothing,  because,  he  said,  he  knew  nothing,  and  he 
refused  to  attempt  to  clear  himself  of  any  accusation  made  without 
proof.  Pichegru  was  found  strangled  in  prison  on  the  morning 
of  April  6,  1804.  It  is  not  known  whether  he  committed  suicide 
or  was  secretly  put  to  death  in  this  manner.  Moreau  was  con- 
demned to  two  years'  imprisonment,  which  was  commuted  to 
banishment.  For  some  time  he  lived  in  the  United  States,  but  re- 
turned in  I  Si  3  and  joined  the  coalition  against  Napoleon.  He 
was  mortally  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Dresden.  Georges  Cadou- 
dal was  executed. 

This  conspiracy,  discovered  in  the  middle  of  February,  1804, 
rendered  the  person  of  the  first  consul,  whose  life  had  been  thus 
threatened,  still  dearer  to  the  masses  of  the  people;  addresses 
of  congratulation  were  presented  by  all  the  bodies  of  the  state  and 
all  the  departments  of  the  republic.  About  this  time  he  sacrificed 
an   illustrious  victim.     On  March    15,  the  Duke  d'Enghien '''   was 

'  The  Duke  d'Fjighien  was  son  of  the  Duke  de  Bourbon  and  grandson  of  tlic 
Prince  de  Conde.  His  execution  was  probably  the  most  debated  act  of  Napolcor.'s 
career.     There  are  few  apologists  for  it  among  historians. 


456  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1804 

carried  off  by  a  squadron  of  cavalry  from  the  castle  of  Ettenheim, 
in  the  grand  duchy  of  Baden,  a  few  leagues  from  the  Rhine.     The 

first  consul  believed,  from  the  reports  of  the  police,  that  this  prince 
had  directed  the  recent  conspiracy.  The  Duke  d'Enghien  was  con- 
veyed hastily  to  Vincennes,  tried,  in  a  few  hours,  by  a  military 
commission,  and  shot  in  the  trenches  of  the  chateau.  This  crime 
was  not  an  act  of  policy  or  usurpation,  but  a  deed  of  violence  and 
wrath.  The  royalists  might  have  thought  on  the  i8th  Brumaire 
that  the  first  consul  was  studying  the  part  of  General  ]\Ionk ;  but 
for  four  years  he  had  destroyed  that  hope.  He  had  no  longer  any 
necessity  for  breaking  with  them  in  so  outrageous  a  manner,  nor 
for  reassuring,  as  it  has  been  suggested,  the  Jacobins,  who  no 
longer  existed.  Those  who  remained  devoted  to  the  republic 
dreaded  at  this  time  despotism  far  more  than  a  counter-revolution. 
There  is  every  reason  to  think  that  Napoleon,  who  thought  little  of 
human  life  or  of  the  rights  of  nations,  having  already  formed  the 
habit  of  an  expeditious  and  hasty  policy,  imagined  the  prince  to  be 
one  of  the  conspirators,  and  sought,  by  a  terrible  example,  to  put 
an  end  to  conspiracies,  the  only  peril  that  threatened  his  power 
at  that  period. 

The  war  with  Great  Britain  and  the  conspiracy  of  Cadoudal 
and  Pichegru  were  the  stepping-stones  by  which  Napoleon  as- 
cended from  the  consulate  to  the  empire.  On  the  6th  Germinal, 
year  XII.  (March  27,  1804),  the  senate,  on  receiving  intelligence 
of  the  plot,  sent  a  deputation  to  the  first  consul.  The  president, 
Franqois  de  Neufchateau,  expressed  himself  in  these  terms :  "  Citi- 
zen first  consul,  you  are  founding  a  new  era,  but  you  ought  to  per- 
petuate it:  splendor  is  nothing  without  duration  We  do  not  doubt 
but  this  great  idea  has  had  a  share  of  your  attention;  for  your  cre- 
ative genius  embraces  all  and  forgets  nothing.  But  do  not  delay :  you 
are  urged  on  by  the  times,  by  events,  by  conspirators,  and  by  am- 
bitious men;  and  in  another  direction,  by  the  anxiety  which  agitates 
the  French  people.  It  is  in  your  power  to  enchain  time,  master 
events,  disarm  the  ambitious,  and  tranquilize  the  whole  of  France 
by  giving  it  institutions  which  will  cement  your  edifice,  and  pro- 
long for  our  children  w^hat  you  have  done  for  their  fathers.  Citizen 
first  consul,  be  assured  that  the  senate  here  speaks  to  you  in  the 
name  of  all  citizens." 

On  the  5th  Floreal,  year  XII.  (April  25,  1804),  Napoleon 
replied  to  the  senate  from  Saint  Cloud,  as  follovv'S :    "  Your  address 


THE     CONSULATE  457 

1804 

has  occupied  my  thoughts  incessantly;  it  has  been  the  subject  of 
my  constant  meditation.  You  consider  that  the  supreme  magis- 
tracy should  be  hereditary,  in  order  to  protect  the  people  from  the 
plots  of  our  enemies,  and  the  agitation  which  arises  from  rival 
ambitions.  You  also  think  that  several  of  our  institutions  ought 
to  be  perfected,  to  secure  the  permanent  triumph  of  equality  and 
public  liberty,  and  to  offer  the  nation  and  government  the  twofold 
guarantee  which  they  require.  The  more  I  consider  these  great 
objects,  the  more  deeply  do  I  feel  that  in  such  novel  and  important 
circumstances,  the  councils  of  your  wisdom  and  experience  are 
necessary  to  enable  me  to  come  to  a  conclusion.  I  invite  you,  then, 
to  communicate  to  me  your  ideas  on  the  subject."  The  senate, 
in  its  turn,  replied  on  the  14th  Floreal  (May  3):  "The  senate 
considers  that  the  interests  of  the  French  people  w^ill  be  greatly 
promoted  by  confiding  the  government  of  the  republic  to  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  as  hereditary  emperor."  By  this  preconcerted  scene  was 
ushered  in  the  establisliment  of  the  empire. 

The  tribune  Curee  opened  the  debate  in  the  tribunate  by  a 
motion  on  the  subject.  ITe  dwelt  on  the  same  motives  as  the  sena- 
tors had  done.  His  proposition  was  carried  with  enthusiasm. 
Carnot  alone  had  the  courage  to  oppose  the  empire:  "  I  am  far," 
said  he,  "  from  wishing  to  weaken  the  praises  bestowed  on  the  first 
consul;  but  whatever  services  a  citizen  may  have  done  to  his  coun- 
try, there  are  bounds  which  honor,  as  well  as  reason,  imposes  on 
national  gratitude.  If  this  citizen  has  restored  public  liberty,  if 
he  has  secured  the  safety  of  his  country,  is  it  a  reward  to  offer  him 
the  sacrifice  of  that  liberty;  and  would  it  not  be  destroying  his 
own  work  to  make  his  country  his  private  patrimony?  When 
once  the  proposition  of  holding  the  consulate  for  life  was  presented 
for  the  \'otes  of  the  people,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  an  afterthought 
existed.  A  crowd  of  institutions  evidently  monarchical  followed 
in  succession ;  but  now  the  object  of  so  many  preliminary  measures 
is  disclosed  in  a  positive  manner;  we  are  called  to  declare  our  senti- 
ments on  a  formal  motion  to  restore  the  monarchical  system,  and 
to  confer  im])erial  and  hereditary  dignity  on  the  first  consul, 

"Has  liberty,  then,  only  been  shown  to  man  that  he  might 
never  enjoy  it?  No,  I  cannot  consent  to  consider  this  good,  so 
universally  preferred  to  all  others,  without  which  all  others  are 
as  nothing,  as  a  mere  illusion.  ]My  heart  tells  me  that  liberty  is 
attainable;    that  its  regime  is  easier  and  more  stable  than  anv  arbi- 


458  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1804 

trary  government.  I  voted  against  the  consulate  for  life;  I  now 
vote  against  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy;  as  I  conceive  my 
quality  as  tribune  compels  me  to  do." 

But  he  was  the  only  one  who  thought  thus ;  and  his  colleagues 
rivaled  each  other  in  this  opposition  to  the  opinion  of  the  only 
man  who  alone  among  them  remained  free.  In  the  speeches  of 
that  period  we  may  see  the  prodigious  change  that  had  taken 
place  in  ideas  and  language.  The  revolution  had  retrograded  to  the 
political  principles  of  the  ancient  regime;  the  same  enthusiasm 
and  fanaticism  existed ;  but  it  was  the  enthusiasm  of  flattery,  the 
fanaticism  of  servitude.  The  French  rushed  into  the  empire  as 
they  had  rushed  into  the  revolution;  in  the  age  of  reason  they  re- 
ferred everything  to  the  enfranchisement  of  nations;  now  they 
talked  of  nothing  but  the  greatness  of  a  man,  and  of  the  age  of 
Napoleon ;  and  they  now  fought  to  make  kings,  as  they  had  for- 
merly fought  to  create  republics. 

The  tribunate,  the  legislative  body,  and  the  senate  voted  the 
empire,  which  was  proclaimed  at  Saint  Cloud  on  the  28th  Floreal, 
year  XII.  (May  18,  1804).  On  the  same  day  a  senatus  consultnm 
modified  the  constitution,  which  was  adapted  to  the  new  order  of 
things.  The  empire  required  its  appendages,  and  French  princes, 
high  dignitaries,  marshals,  chamberlains,  and  pages  were  given 
to  it.  All  publicity  was  destroyed.  The  liberty  of  the  press  had 
already  been  subjected  to  censorship;*  only  one  tribune  remained, 
and  that  became  mute.  The  sittings  of  the  tribunate  were  secret, 
like  those  of  the  council  of  state;  and  from  that  day,  for  a  space 
of  ten  years,  France  was  governed  with  closed  doors,  Joseph  and 
Louis  Bonaparte  were  recognized  as  French  princes.  Berthier, 
Murat,  Moncey,  Jourdan,  Massena,  Augereau,  Bernadotte,  Soult, 
Brune,  Lannes,  Mortier,  Ney,  Davout,  Bessieres,  Kellermann, 
Lefevre,  Perignon,  and  Serrurier,  were  named  marshals  of  the  em- 
pire. The  departments  sent  up  addresses,  and  the  clergy  compared 
Napoleon  to  a  new  Moses,  a  new  Matthew,  a  new  Cyrus.  They  saw 
in  his  elevation  "  the  finger  of  God,"  and  said  that  "  submission 
was  due  to  him  as  dominating  over  all ;  to  his  ministers  as  sent  by 
him,  because  such  was  the  order  of  Providence."  Pope  Pius  VII. 
came  to  Paris  to  consecrate  the  new  dynasty.  The  coronation  took 
place  on  Sunday,  December  2,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame. 

"  Upon  Napoleon's  dealings  with  the  press  see  Guillois,  "  Napoleon,"  Tome 
II.,  pp    3^18-448. 


THE     CONSULATE  459 

1804 

Preparations  had  been  making  for  this  ceremony  for  some 
time,  and  it  was  regulated  according  to  ancient  customs.  The 
emperor  repaired  to  the  metropoHtan  church  with  the  Empress 
Josephine,  in  a  coach  surmounted  by  a  crown,  drawn  by  eight 
white  horses,  and  escorted  by  his  guard.  The  Pope,  cardinals, 
archbishops,  bishops,  and  all  the  great  bodies  of  the  state  were 
awaiting  him  in  the  cathedral,  which  had  been  magnificently  deco- 
rated for  this  extraordinary  ceremony.  He  was  addressed  in  an 
oration  at  the  door;  and  then,  clothed  with  the  imperial  mantle, 
the  crown  on  his  head  and  the  scepter  in  his  hand,  he  ascended  a 
throne  placed  at  the  end  of  the  church.  The  high  almoner,  a  car- 
dinal, and  a  bishop  came  and  conducted  him  to  the  foot  of  the  altar 
for  consecration.  The  Pope  poured  the  three  fold  unction  on  his 
head  and  hands,  and  delivered  the  following  prayer :  "  O  Almighty 
God,  who  didst  establish  Hazael  to  govern  Syria,  and  Jehu  king 
of  Israel,  by  revealing  unto  them  thy  purpose  by  the  mouth  of  the 
prophet  Elias ;  who  didst  also  shed  the  holy  unction  of  kings  on 
the  head  of  Saul  and  of  David,  by  the  ministry  of  thy  prophet 
Samuel,  vouchsafe  to  pour,  by  my  hands,  the  treasures  of  thy  grace 
and  blessing  on  thy  servant  Napoleon,  who,  notwithstanding  our 
own  unworthiness,  we  this  day  consecrate  emperor  in  thy  name." 

The  Pope  led  him  solemnly  back  to  the  throne,  and  after  he 
had  sworn  on  the  Testament  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  new  con- 
stitution, the  chief  of  the  heralds  at  arms  cried  in  a  loud  voice: 
"  The  most  glorious  and  most  august  Emperor  of  the  French  is 
crowned  and  enthroned!  Long  live  the  emperor!"  The  church 
instantly  resounded  with  the  cry,  salvos  of  artillery  were  fired, 
and  the  Pope  commenced  the  Te  Dcum.  For  several  days  there  was 
a  succession  of  fetes;  but  these  fetes  by  command,  these  fetes  of 
absolute  power,  did  not  breathe  the  frank,  lively,  popular,  and 
unanimous  joy  of  the  first  federation  of  July  14;  and,  exhausted 
as  the  people  were,  they  did  not  welcome  the  beginning  of  despotism 
as  they  had  welcomed  that  of  liberty. 

The  consulate  was  the  last  period  of  the  existence  of  the  re- 
public. The  revolution  was  coming  to  man's  estate.  During  the 
first  period  of  the  consular  government  Napoleon  had  gained 
the  proscribed  classes  by  recalling  tliem,  he  found  a  people  still 
agitated  bv  cvei"v  passinn.  and  he  restored  them  to  tranquillity  by 
labor,  and  to  pros])eritv  bv  restoring  order.  Finally  he  compelled 
Europe,  conquered  for  the  third  time,  to  acknowledge  his  elevation. 


460  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1804 

Till  the  Treaty  of  Amiens,  he  revived  in  the  republic  victory,  con- 
cord, and  prosperity,  without  sacrificing  Hberty.  He  might  then, 
had  he  wished,  have  made  himself  the  representative  of  that  great 
age,  which  sought  for  that  noble  system  of  human  dignity  the  con- 
secration of  far-extended  equahty,  wise  Hberty,  and  more  developed 
civilization.  The  nation  was  in  the  hands  of  the  great  man  or  the 
despot;  it  rested  with  him  to  preserve  it  free  or  to  enslave  it.  He 
preferred  the  realization  of  his  selfish  projects,  and  preferred  him- 
self to  all  humanity.  Brought  up  in  tents,  coming  late  into  the 
revolution,  he  understood  only  its  material  and  interested  side;  he 
had  no  faith  in  the  moral  wants  which  had  given  rise  to  it,  nor  in 
the  creeds  which  had  agitated  it,  and  which,  sooner  or  later,  would 
return  and  destroy  him.  He  saw  an  insurrection  approaching  its 
end,  an  exhausted  people  at  his  mercy,  and  a  crown  on  the  ground 
within  his  reach.  It  is  to  be  noted  how  completely  changed  are 
conditions  at  this  time  (1804),  Napoleon  is  no  longer  the  child 
of  the  revolution,  nor  attempting  to  enforce  its  ideas,  but  rather 
is  seeking  to  establish  his  personal  domination  over  Europe." 

9  A  character  study  of  the  great  conqueror  might  well  be  made  at  this 
point.  Suggestive  reading  is  the  following:  Rose,  "Napoleon";  Lord  Rose- 
bery,  "  The  Last  Phase " ;  Guillois,  "  Napoleon,"  Tome  L,  Book  I. ;  Taine : 
"  Modern  Regime,"  I.  Book  I. 


Chapter    XVIII 

THE  EMPIRE.     1804-1814 

>4  FTER  the  establishment  of  the  empire  power  became  more 
2LA  arbitrary,  and  society  reconstructed  itself  on  an  aristocratic 
•^  J^  principle.  The  great  movement  of  recomposition  which 
had  commenced  on  the  9th  Thermidor  went  on  increasing.  The 
convention  had  abolished  classes;  the  directory  defeated  parties; 
the  consulate  gained  over  men ;  and  the  empire  corrupted  them 
by  distinctions  and  privileges.  The  second  period  was  the  opposite 
of  the  first.  Under  the  one,  we  saw  the  government  of  the  com- 
mittees exercised  by  men  elected  every  three  months,  without 
guards,  honors,  or  representations,  living  on  a  few  francs  a  day,^ 
working  eighteen  hours  together  on  common  wooden  tables;  under 
the  other,  the  government  of  the  empire,  with  all  its  paraphernalia 
of  administration,  its  chamberlains,  gentlemen,  prretorian  guard, 
hereditary  rights,  its  immense  civil  list,  and  dazzling  ostentation. 
The  national  activity  was  exclusively  directed  to  labor  and  war. 
All  material  interests,  all  ambitious  passions,  were  hierarchically 
arranged  under  one  leader,  who,  after  having  sacrificed  liberty  by 
establishing  absolute  power,  destroyed  equality  by  introducing 
nobility. 

The  directory  had  erected  all  the  surrounding  states  into  re- 
publics; Napoleon  wished  to  constitute  them  on  the  model  of  the 
empire.  He  began  with  Italy.  The  council  of  state  of  the  Cisal- 
pine republic  determined  on  restoring  hereditary  monarchy  in  favor 
of  Napoleon.  Its  vice-president,  i\Ielzy,  came  to  Paris  to  com- 
municate to  him  this  decision.     On  the  26th  Ventose,  year  XIII. 

■1  The  original  text  is  preserved.  But  in  his  allegiance  to  the  revolution 
^lignet  shows  himself  incapable  of  appreciating  the  great  constructive  work  of 
Napoleon.  As  for  "  living  on  a  few  francs  a  day,"  Von  Sybel  gives  ample  evi- 
dence of  the  waste  and  extravagance  of  the  revolutionary  government.  The 
actual  wages  of  tlie  various  conunittees  exceeded  590,000,000  francs  per  annum, 
more  than  the  entire  budget  of  the  ancient  regime.  Von  Sybel,  "  History  of  the 
French  Revolution,"  vol.  HI.  p.  310.  The  commune  spent  12,000  francs  per 
diem  in  the  endeavor  to  keep  down  prices  under  the  maximum  law. 

401 


462  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1805 

(March  17,  1805),  he  was  received  with  great  solemnity  at  the 
Tuileries.  Napoleon  was  on  his  throne,  surrounded  by  his  court 
and  all  the  splendor  of  sovereign  power,  in  the  display  of  which 
he  delighted.  Melzy  offered  him  the  crown,  in  the  name  of  his 
fellow-citizens.  "  Sire,"  said  he,  in  conclusion,  "  deign  to  gratify 
the  wishes  of  the  assembly  over  which  I  have  the  honor  to  preside. 
Interpreter  of  the  sentiments  which  animate  every  Italian  heart,  it 
brings  you  their  sincere  homage.  It  will  inform  them  with  joy 
that  by  accepting,  you  have  strengthened  the  ties  which  attach  you 
to  tlie  preservation,  defense,  and  prosperity  of  the  Italian  nation. 
Yes,  sire,  you  wished  the  existence  of  the  Italian  republic,  and  it 
existed.  Desire  the  Italian  monarchy  to  be  happy,  and  it  will 
be  so." 

The  emperor  went  to  take  possession  of  this  kingdom,  and 
on  May  26,  1805,  he  received  at  Milan  the  Iron  Crown  of  the 
Lombards.  He  appointed  his  adopted  son.  Prince  Eugene  de 
Beauharnais,  viceroy  of  Italy,  and  repaired  to  Genoa,  which  also 
renounced  its  sovereignty.  On  June  4,  1805,  its  territory  was 
united  to  the  empire,  and  formed  the  three  departments  of  Genoa, 
Montenotte,  and  the  Apennines.  The  small  republic  of  Lucca  was 
included  in  this  monarchical  revolution.  At  the  request  of  its 
gonfalonier,  it  was  given  in  appanage  to  the  Prince  of  Piombino 
and  his  princess,  a  sister  of  Napoleon.  The  latter,  after  this  royal 
progress,  recrossed  the  Alps  and  returned  to  the  capital  of  his 
empire;  he  soon  after  departed  for  the  camp  at  Boulogne,  where 
a  great  maritime  expedition  against  England  was  preparing. 

This  project  of  descent  which  the  directory  had  entertained 
after  the  Peace  of  Campo-Eormio,  and  the  first  consul,  after  the 
Peace  of  Luneville,  had  been  resumed  with  much  ardor  since  the 
new  rupture.  At  the  commencement  of  1805  a  flotilla  of  two 
thousand  small  vessels,  manned  by  16,000  sailors,  carrying  an  army 
of  160,000  men,  9000  horses,  and  a  numerous  artillery,  had  as- 
sembled in  the  ports  of  Boulogne,  Staples,  Wimereux.  Ambleteuse, 
and  Calais.  In  this  endeavor  to  make  a  direct  conquest  of  Eng- 
land Napoleon  was  true  to  the  traditional  policy  of  France,  for 
Louis  XIV.  had  thus  conceived  of  establishing  James  II.  upon  the 
throne,  and  no  later  than  1796  Hoche  had  failed  in  Ireland  in  a 
similar  endeavor.  As  the  soul  of  the  coalition,  the  conquest  of 
England,  if  achieved,  would  have  placed  all  Europe  under  Na- 
poleon's  heel.      Elaborate   preparations   were   made   at   Boulogne, 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  463 

1805 

where,  in  August,  1805,  an  army  of  150,000  men  was  gathered 
and  artillery  to  the  amount  of  2300  small  cannon  and  3500  of 
larger  caliber.  There  were  vessels  sufficient  to  embark  30,000  men 
within  a  few  hours.  Boulogne  was  the  central  point  of  embarka- 
tion, where  Soult  was  in  command.  The  advance  guard  under 
Lannes  and  Oudinot  was  to  sail  from  Wimereux.  The  right  wing 
of  the  army,  under  Davout,  was  at  Ambleteuse,  and  the  left,  under 
Ney,  at  Staples.  Napoleon's  confidence  is  expressed  in  his  words : 
"  If  we  are  masters  twelve  hours  after  landing,  England  is  van- 
quished." 

Aside  from  favorable  weather,  the  success  of  the  expedition 
was  dependent  upon  the  movements  of  the  French  and  English 
fleets.  In  order  to  make  himself  master  of  the  Channel  it  was 
planned  that  Admiral  Villeneuve  was  to  sail  from  Toulon,  pick 
up  the  Spanish  fleet  in  Cadiz  harbor,  and  then  sail,  on  a  southwest 
course  toward  the  West  Indies  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  two 
other  French  squadrons,  the  commanders  of  v/hich  had  been  in- 
structed to  sail  from  Brest  and  Rochefort  as  if  going  to  the  An- 
tilles. The  united  fleet  was  then  to  double  on  its  course,  eluding, 
if  possible,  the  English  fleet  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  two  squadrons 
sailing  from  the  western  harbors  of  France,  and  sweep  up  the 
Channel  to  protect  the  French  in  crossing  from  Boulogne.  Un- 
fortunately for  the  success  of  this  plan,  however,  though  Villeneuve 
had  united  the  Spanish  fleet  with  his  own,  the  other  two  squadrons 
were  kept  in  harbor  by  the  English.  An  attempt  to  penetrate  the 
Channel  was  prevented  by  the  English  Admiral  Calder  in  an  inde- 
cisive combat  on  July  22,  1805.  The  French  fleet  was  forced  to 
return  to  Cadiz  for  repairs,  and  Napoleon,  despairing  of  success, 
broke  up  the  camp  at  Boulogne  on  August  27.  Two  months  later 
the  united  French  and  Spanish  fleets,  numbering  thirty-three  ves- 
sels, were  destroyed  by  Nelson  in  tlie  battle  of  Trafalgar,  October 
21,  1805.  Both  Nelson  and  the  Spanish  admiral  were  killed  in 
the  engagement,  and  Villeneuve  surrendered.  He  committed  sui- 
cide when  court-martialed  for  his  conduct. 

The  emperor  was  hastening  by  his  presence  the  execution  of 
this  project,  when  he  learned  that  England,  to  avoid  the  descent 
with  which  it  was  threatened,  had  prevailed  on  Austria  to  come  to 
a  rupture  with  France,  and  that  all  the  forces  of  the  Austrian 
monarchy  were  in  motion.  There  were  four  armies  directed 
against  h'rance :      (i)     An   Anglo-Russian-Swedish   force  of  43,- 


464  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1805 

ooo  men,  to  come  by  way  of  Hanover  and  Holland;  (2)  the 
Austrian  army  of  80,000,  on  the  upper  Danube,  under  Mack  and  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand,  who  were  to  be  reinforced  by  60,000  Rus- 
sians; (3)  another  Austrian  army  of  100,000,  under  the  Archduke 
Charles,  intended  for  the  invasion  of  Italy;  (4)  a  combined  Eng- 
lish and  Russian  force  was  to  be  landed  in  Naples.  Pitt,  who  had 
returned  to  power  after  the  weak  administration  of  the  Addington 
ministry,  seems  to  have  made  an  error  of  judgment  similar  to  that 
of  1796,  when  he  overestimated  the  strength  of  Austria;  for  this 
time  the  illusion  of  Napoleon's  loss  of  energy  apparently  deceived 
him.  The  terms  of  the  compact  between  England  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  coalition  provided  that  no  peace  was  to  be  made  with 
France  without  common  consent  and  that  there  should  be  no  settle- 
ment of  conquests  until  final  peace  was  made  by  a  European 
congress.  The  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  the  annexa- 
tion of  Genoa  and  Piedmont  to  France,  the  open  influence  of  the 
emperor  over  Holland  and  Switzerland,  had  again  aroused  Europe, 
which  now  dreaded  the  ambition  of  Napoleon  as  much  as  it  had 
formerly  feared  the  principles  of  the  revolution.  The  treaty  of 
alliance  between  the  British  ministry  and  the  Russian  cabinet  had 
been  signed  on  April  11,  1805,  and  Austria  had  acceded  to  it  on 
August  9. 

Napoleon  left  Boulogne,  returned  hastily  to  Paris,  repaired 
to  the  senate  on  September  23,  obtained  a  levy  of  80,000  men,  and 
set  out  the  next  day  to  begin  the  campaign.  He  passed  the  Rhine 
on  October  i  and  entered  Bavaria  on  the  6th  with  an  army  of 
160,000  men.  Massena  stopped  Prince  Charles  in  Italy,  and  the 
emperor  carried  on  the  war  in  Germany  at  full  speed.  In  a  few 
days  he  passed  the  Danube,  entered  Munich,  gained  the  victory 
of  Wertingen,  and  forced  General  Mack  to  lay  down  his  arms  at 
Ulm.  Mack  had  made  the  error  of  advancing  so  far  that  he  was 
unable  to  cooperate  with  the  Russian  force.  The  Austrians  sur- 
rendered 30,000  prisoners,  and  had  already  lost  almost  an  equal 
number  in  killed  or  wounded  in  seven  previous  engagements  pre- 
cipitated by  desperate  efforts  of  the  Austrians  to  break  the  French 
circle  of  arms.  This  capitulation  disorganized  the  Austrian  army. 
Napoleon  pursued  the  course  of  his  victories,  entered  Vienna  on 
November  13,  and  marched  into  Moravia  to  meet  the  Russians, 
round  whom  the  defeated  troops  had  rallied. 

On  December  2,  1805,  the  anniversary  of  the  coronation,  the 


THEEMPIRE  465 

1805 

two  armies  met  in  the  plains  of  Austerlitz.  The  enemy  amounted 
to  95,000  men,  the  French  to  80,000.  On  both  sides  the  artillery- 
was  formidable.  The  battle  began  at  sunrise;  these  enormous 
masses  began  to  move;  the  Russian  infantry  could  not  stand 
against  the  impetuosity  of  the  French  and  the  maneuvers  of  their 
general.  The  enemy's  left  was  first  cut  off;  the  Russian  imperial 
guard  came  up  to  reestablish  the  communication,  and  was  entirely 
overwhelmed.  The  center  experienced  the  same  fate,  and  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  most  decisive  victory  had  completed 
this  wonderful  campaign.  The  battle  of  Austerlitz  is  often  called 
the  "Battle  of  the  three  emperors."  The  allies  lost  15,000  men, 
killed,  wounded,  or  drowned,  20,000  prisoners,  180  cannon,  and 
40  standards.  The  French  loss  was  7000.  Napoleon  ever  re- 
garded the  battle  of  Austerlitz  as  the  greatest  day  in  his  history, 
and  was  wont  frequently  to  refer  to  it.  On  the  evening  before  the 
battle,  with  almost  fatalistic  belief  in  his  "  star  of  destiny,"  in  an 
address  to  the  soldiers  he  took  them  all  into  his  confidence  by 
actually  telling  them  what  his  strategy  and  tactics  were  to  be  on  the 
morrow!  The  following  day  the  emperor  congratulated  the  army 
in  a  proclamation  on  the  field  of  battle  itself.  "  Soldiers,"  said  he, 
"  I  am  satisfied  with  you.  You  have  adorned  your  eagles  with 
immortal  glory.  An  army  of  100,000  men,  commanded  by  the 
Emperors  of  Russia  and  Austria,  in  less  than  four  days  has  been 
cut  to  pieces  or  dispersed ;  those  who  escaped  your  steel  have  been 
drowned  in  the  lakes.  Forty  flags,  the  standards  of  the  Russian 
imperial  guard,  a  hundred  and  eighty  pieces  of  cannon,  twenty 
generals,  more  than  twenty  thousand  prisoners,  are  the  result  of 
this  ever  memorable  day.  This  infantry,  so  vaunted  and  so  superior 
in  numbers,  could  not  resist  your  shock,  and  henceforth  you  have 
no  more  rivals  to  fear.  Thus,  in  two  months,  this  third  coalition 
has  been  defeated  and  dissolved."  A  truce  was  concluded  with 
Austria ;  and  the  Russians,  who  might  have  been  cut  to  pieces,  ob- 
tained permission  to  retire  by  fixed  stages." 

The  Peace  of  Presburg  followed  the  victories  of  Ulm  and 
Austerlitz :  it  was  signed  on  December  26.  The  house  of  Austria, 
which  had  lost  its  external  possessions,  Flanders  and  the  Milanese, 
was  now  assailed  in  Germany  itself.  It  gave  up  the  provinces  of 
Dalmatia  and  Al])ania  to  the  kingdom  of  Italy ;    the  territory  of 

-  The  accounts  of  the  Gcncral-1)aron  Lejctine  and  General  Scgur,  to  he  found 
in  their  memoirs  (English  translations),  are  astonishing  word-pictures  of  this 
day,  by  eye-witnesses. 


466  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1805-1806 

the  Tyrol,  the  town  of  Aug-sbiirg,  the  principality  of  Eichstett,  a 
part  of  the  territory  of  Passau,  and  all  its  possessions  in  Suabia, 
Breisgau,  and  Ortenau  to  the  electorates  of  Bavaria  and  Wurtem- 
berg,  which  were  transformed  into  kingdoms.  The  grand  duchy 
of  Baden  also  profited  by  its  spoils.  The  Treaty  of  Presburg  com- 
pleted the  humiliation  of  Austria,  commenced  by  the  Treaty  of 
Campo-Formio,  and  continued  by  that  of  Luneville.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  of  the  third  coalition  Napoleon  had  declared 
that  Austria  would  not  be  spared,  as  had  been  done  hitherto ;  for, 
except  for  loss  of  prestige,  Austria  had  suffered  very  little  hitherto. 
Campo-Formio  had  deprived  her  of  the  Netherlands,  but  given  her 
Venetia  in  return ;  Luneville  had  substituted  French  for  Austrian 
influence  in  southern  and  western  Germany.  Austria  lost  influence 
there,  but  not  territory.  But  the  Treaty  of  Presburg  (December  26, 
1805)  cut  Austria  off  from  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  the  Rhine,  and 
deprived  her  of  28,000  square  miles  of  territory  and  3,000,000  sub- 
jects. The  following  cessions  were  made:  Piedmont,  Piacenza, 
and  Parma  to  France;  Venetia,  Istria,  and  Dalmatia  to  the  king- 
dom of  Italy;  the  Tyrol,  Passau,  Trent,  Brixen,  Eichstadt,  and  the 
free  city  of  Augsburg  passed  to  Bavaria ;  Wurtemberg  and  Baden 
were  enriched  by  Austria's  upper  Rhine  lands,  the  last  remnants 
of  the  possessions  of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  and  were  recognized 
as  kingdoms.  The  Holy  Roman  Empire  never  recovered  from  the 
blow  of  Austerlitz,  and  on  August  6,  1806,  Francis  II.  laid  down 
a  title  as  old  as  Charlemagne's  and  the  Roman  Csesars'.  So  com- 
pletely was  Napoleon  master  of  central  and  western  Europe  that 
a  stroke  of  the  pen  could  dethrone  the  Bourbons  of  Naples.  From 
the  imperial  villa  at  Schoenbrunn  the  famous  order  went  forth : 
"  La  dynastie  de  Naples  a  cesse  de  regner."  Joseph  Bonaparte 
became  King  of  Naples,  and  the  court  of  the  Bourbons  was  moved 
to  Palermo,  where  it  was  safe  under  the  shadow  of  English 
guns. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  policy  of  Prussia  at  this  time.  Of 
all  the  powers  united  against  France  at  the  beginning  of  the  revo- 
lution Prussia  w^as  the  least  injured  by  the  first  conquests  of  the 
convention  and  the  first  to  make  peace  with  France.  After  the 
Treaty  of  Basel  in  April,  1795,  Prussia  had  remained  neutral  and 
with  secret  satisfaction  had  looked  upon  the  disasters  of  Austria, 
its  great  rival  in  Germany.  This  status  was  continued  during  the 
war    of    the    second    coalition    (1798-1802).     In    the    League    of 


THEEMPIRE  467 

1806 

Neutrals  Prussia  sustained  the  French  policy,  and  thoug'h,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  third  coaHtion,  she  was  inclined  to  hold  aloof  from 
France,  Austerlitz  and  Presburg  convinced  her  of  the  expediency 
of  at  least  continuing  her  pacific  relations  with  France.  This  ac- 
tion of  Prussia  w'as  largely  due  to  the  treasonable  conduct  of  the 
Prussian  minister,  Haugwitz.  But  when  Napoleon  discovered  that 
Haugwitz  could  be  corrupted,  he  daringly  bought  the  alliance  of 
Prussia  by  offering  her  Hanover  in  return  for  her  support  (De- 
cember 15,  1806).  The  agreement  was  a  doubly  shameless  one, 
because,  after  the  death  of  Pitt,  a  coalition  ministry  had  succeeded, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  Charles  James  Fox,  the  strongest  advo- 
cate of  French  policy  in  Great  Britain.  Fox  made  overtures  of 
peace  to  Napoleon,  conditional  upon  the  French  withdrawal  from 
Hanover.  Napoleon  beguiled  the  English  ministry  by  peace  over- 
tures which  he  never  meant  to  keep,  while  he  bought  the  alliance 
of  Prussia.  As  a  piece  of  double  dealing  Napoleon's  policy  with 
Hanover  is  notorious.^  The  emperor,  on  his  return  to  Paris 
crowned  with  so  much  glory,  became  the  object  of  such  general 
and  wild  admiration  that  he  was  himself  carried  away  by  the 
public  enthusiasm  and  intoxicated  at  his  fortune.  The  different 
bodies  of  the  state  contended  among  themselves  in  obedience  and 
flatteries.  He  received  the  title  of  Great,  and  the  senate  passed 
a  decree  dedicating  to  him  a  triumphal  monument. 

Napoleon  became  more  confirmed  in  the  principle  he  had 
espoused.  The  victory  of  Marengo  and  the  Peace  of  Luneville  had 
sanctioned  the  consulate ;  the  victory  of  Austerlitz  and  the  Peace  of 
Presburg  consecrated  the  empire.  The  last  vestiges  of  the  revolu- 
tion were  al)andoned.  On  January  i,  1806,  the  Gregorian  calendar 
definitely  replaced  the  republican  calendar,  after  an  existence  of 
fourteen  years.  The  Pantheon  was  again  devoted  to  purposes  of 
worsliip,  and  soon  even  the  tribunate  ceased  to  exist.  But  the 
emperor  aimed  espcciallv  at  extending  his  dominion  over  the  Con- 
tinent. Ferdinand,  King  of  Naples,  having  during  the  last  war 
violated  the  treaty  of  peace  with  France,  had  his  states  invaded, 
and  Joseph  Bonaparte  on  March  30  was  declared  king  of  the  two 
Sicilies.  Soon  after  (June  5,  1806)  Holland  was  converted  into 
a  kingdom,  and  received  as  monarch  Louis  Bonaparte,  another 
brother  of  the  emperor.     None  of  tlie  republics  created  l)y  the  con- 

"  See  Fyffc,  "Modern  Europe."  pp.  300-317;   Bourgeois,  "Manuel  Historiqiic 
dc  Politique  Etrangcre,"  vol.  II.  pp.  270-27.2. 


468 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1806 

vention  or  the  directory  now  existed.  Napoleon,  in  nominating 
secondary  kings,  restored  the  military  hierarchical  system  and  the 
titles  of  the  Middle  Ages.  He  erected  Dalmatia,  Istria,  Friuli, 
Cadore,  Belluno,  Conegliano,  Trevise,  Feltra,  Bassano,  Vicenza, 
Padua,  and  Rovigo  into  duchies,  great  fiefs  of  the  empire.  Marshal 
Berthier  was  invested  with  the  principality  of  Neufchatel,  the 
minister    Talleyrand    with    that   of    Benevento,    Prince   Borghese 


FRANCE 

AT  TMt  MtlCHT  or  NKPIXtON'S  POWER 


and  his  wife  with  that  of  Gustalla,  Murat  with  the  grand  duchy 
of  Berg  and  Cleves.  Napoleon,  not  venturing  to  destroy  the  Swiss 
republic,  styled  himself  its  mediator,  and  completed  the  organization 
of  his  military  empire  by  placing  under  his  dependence  the  ancient 
Germanic  body.  On  July  12,  1806,  fourteen  princes  of  the  south 
and  west  of  Germany  united  themselves  into  the  Confederation  of 
the  Rhine,  and  recognized  Napoleon  as  their  protector.  On  August 
I  they  signified  to  the  diet  of  Ratisbon  their  separation  from  the 


THEEMPIRE  469 

1806 

Germanic  body.  The  empire  of  Germany  ceased  to  exist,  and 
Francis  11.  abdicated  the  title  by  proclamation.  By  a  convention 
signed  at  Vienna,  on  December  15,  Prussia  exchanged  the  terri- 
tories of  Anspach,  Cleves,  and  Neufchatel  for  the  electorate  of 
Hanover.  Napoleon  had  all  the  west  under  his  power.  The  pur- 
pose of  Napoleon  in  1806  was  to  create  a  "  Greater  France,"  with 
a  swarm  of  vassal  states :  Louis  Bonaparte  in  Holland ;  Murat, 
his  brother-in-law,  in  Naples,  and  Eugene  Beauharnais  in  Germany 
and  Italy.  The  actual  extent  of  the  empire,  exclusive  of  these 
vassal  states,  was  enormous.  The  eastern  frontier  began  at  Lubeck 
on  the  Baltic,  ran  southwesterly  to  the  Rhine  at  Wesel,  followed 
up  the  Rhine  to  Lake  Geneva,  crossed  the  Alps,  and  so  down  the 
Po  River  to  Mantua,  and  struck  the  Mediterranean  at  Terricena, 
There  w^ere  130  departments  in  the  empire  at  its  height,  with  45,- 
000,000  inhabitants.  Absolute  master  of  France  and  Italy,  as  em- 
peror and  king,  he  was  also  master  of  Spain,  by  the  dependence 
of  that  court;  of  Naples  and  Holland,  by  his  two  brothers;  of 
Switzerland,  by  the  act  of  mediation;  and  in  Germany  he  had  at 
his  disposal  the  kings  of  Bavaria  and  Wurtemberg  and  the  Con- 
federation of  the  Rhine  against  Austria  and  Prussia.  After  the 
Peace  of  Amiens,  by  supporting  liberty  he  might  have  made  himself 
the  protector  of  France  and  the  moderator  of  Europe,  but  having 
sought  glory  in  domination,  and  made  conquest  the  object  of  his 
life,  he  condemned  himself  to  a  long  struggle  which  would  in- 
evitably terminate  in  the  dependence  of  the  Continent  or  in  his 
own  downfall. 

This  encroaching  progress  gave  rise  to  the  fourth  coalition. 
Prussia,  neutral  since  the  Peace  of  Basel,  had,  in  the  last  campaign, 
been  on  the  point  of  joining  the  Austro-Russian  coalition.  The 
rapidity  of  the  emperor's  victories  had  alone  restrained  her;  but 
now,  alarmed  at  the  aggrandizement  of  the  empire,  and  encouraged 
by  the  fine  condition  of  her  troops,  she  leagued  with  Russia  to  drive 
the  French  from  Germany.  The  cabinet  of  Berlin  required  that 
the  French  troops  should  recross  the  Rhine,  or  war  would  be  the 
consequence.  At  the  same  time  it  sought  to  form  in  the  north 
of  Germany  a  league  against  the  confederation  of  the  south.  The 
emperor,  who  was  in  the  plenitude  of  his  prosperity  and  of  national 
enthusiasm,  far  from  submitting  to  the  ultimatum  of  Prussia,  im- 
mediately marched  against  her. 

The   immediate   cause   of   Prussia's   hostility   to    France   was 


470  TPIE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1806-1807 

the  discovery  by  Frederick  William  III.  of  the  duplicity  of  Na- 
poleon regarding  Hanover.  The  emperor  really  had  no  more  in- 
tention of  giving  it  to  Prussia  than  to  England,  but  used  it  as  a 
means  to  lure  Prussia  and  to  wheedle  Fox.  Additional  causes 
were  the  creation  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  the  establish- 
ment of  which  Prussia  regarded  as  a  menace  to  the  integrity  of  the 
German  kingdom;  the  French  seizure  of  Verden  and  Essen;  and 
in  the  popular  mind  the  execution  of  the  Nuremberg  bookseller, 
Palm,  for  selling  an  anonymous  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Germany  in 
its  Deep  Humiliation,"  But  Prussia  was  ill  prepared  for  war. 
Since  Frederick  the  Great's  death  in  1786  she  had  been  living  upon 
her  past  reputation.  The  administrative  system  was  anticjuated 
and  inefficient;  the  country  poor;  the  army  a  shell;  the  soldiers 
were  in  a  wretched  condition,  while  the  officers  were  superannu- 
ated veterans  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  or  mere  sprigs  of  gentility. 
Moreover,  Prussia  had  no  allies  save  Saxony  and  distant  Russia. 
The  campaign  opened  early  in  October.  Napoleon,  as  usual, 
overwhelmed  the  coalition  by  the  promptitude  of  his  marches  and 
the  vigor  of  his  measures.  On  October  14  he  destroyed  at  Jena 
the  military  monarchy  of  Prussia  by  a  decisive  victory;  on  the 
i6th  14,000  Prussians  threw  down  their  arms  at  Erfurt;  on  the 
27th  the  French  army  entered  Berlin,  and  the  close  of  1806  was 
employed  in  taking  the  Prussian  fortresses  and  marching  into 
Poland  against  the  Russian  army.  Such  fortresses  as  Spandau, 
Erfurt,  Stettin,  and  Kiistrin  had  fallen  like  card-houses.  The 
collapse  of  Prussia,  as  complete  as  it  was  unexpected,  changed  the 
extent  of  Napoleon's  demands.  When  the  war  began  he  had  re- 
solved to  require  the  cession  of  the  west  bank  of  the  Elba  with 
IMagdeburg.  Now  he  was  determined  to  force  Prussia  out  of  Ger- 
many, compelling  the  Hohenzollern  house  to  renounce  Branden- 
burg and  to  retire  beyond  the  Vistula  River.  The  surrender  of 
Konigsberg,  Dantzig,  Thorn  on  the  lower  Vistula,  and  Breslau  in 
Silesia  was  demanded  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  strong 
French  frontier  along  this  line.  Even  tlie  weak  Frederick  William 
III.  rejected  such  terms.  The  campaign  in  Poland  was  less  rapid, 
but  as  brilliant  as  that  of  Prussia.  Russia,  for  the  third  time, 
measured  its  strength  with  France.  Conquered  at  Zurich  and  Aus- 
terlitz,  it  was  also  defeated  at  Fylau  (February  y-S,  1807)  '^'^"^' 
Friedland  (June  14,  1807).  Fylau  was  fought  mainly  against  the 
Prussians,   only   a  detachment   of   Russians   being   present   in   the 


THEEMPIRE  471 

1807 

battle,  most  of  whom,  on  account  of  the  winter,  were  not  able  to 
come  so  early  to  the  relief  of  Prussia.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
murderous  battles  that  Napoleon  ever  fought,  the  horror  of  the 
carnage  being  increased  by  the  fact  that  a  blinding  snowstorm 
prevailed  at  the  time.  Marshal  Ney  was  conspicuous  for  his  brav- 
ery on  this  day.  Friedland,  like  Austerlitz,  was  a  day  Napoleon 
loved  to  remember.  After  these  memorable  battles  the  Emperor 
Alexander  entered  into  a  negotiation,  and  concluded  at  Tilsit,  on 
June  21,  1807,  an  armistice  which  was  followed  by  a  definitive 
treaty  on  July  7. 

The  Peace  of  Tilsit  increased  the  French  domination  on  the 
Continent.  Prussia  was  reduced  to  half  its  extent.  In  the  south 
of  Germany  Napoleon  had  instituted  the  two  kingdoms  of  Bavaria 
and  Wurtemberg  against  Austria;  farther  to  the  north  he  created 
the  two  feudatory  kingdoms  of  Saxony  and  Westphalia  against 
Prussia.  That  of  Saxony,  composed  of  the  electorate  of  that 
name,  and  Prussian  Poland,  called  the  grand  duchy  of  Warsaw, 
was  given  to  the  King  of  Saxony;  that  of  Westphalia  compre- 
hended the  states  of  Hesse-Cassel,  Brunswick,  Fulda,  Paderborn, 
and  the  greater  part  of  Hanover,  and  was  given  to 'Jerome  Bona- 
parte. The  Emperor  Alexander,  acceding  to  all  these  arrange- 
ments, evacuated  Aloldavia  and  Wallachia.  Russia,  however, 
though  conquered,  was  the  only  power  unencroached  upon.  Na- 
poleon followed  more  than  ever  in  the  footsteps  of  Charlemagne; 
at  his  coronation  he  had  had  the  crown,  sword,  and  scepter  of 
the  Prankish  king  carried  before  him.  A  Pope  had  crossed  the  Alps 
to  consecrate  his  dynasty,  and  he  modeled  his  states  on  the  vast 
empire  of  that  conqueror.  The  revolution  sought  the  establishment 
of  ancient  liberty;  Napoleon  restored  the  military  hierarchy  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  former  had  made  citizens;  the  latter  made  vas- 
sals. The  one  had  changed  Europe  into  republics;  the  other  trans- 
formed it  into  fiefs.  Great  and  pow'erful  as  he  was,  coming 
immediately  after  a  shock  which  had  exhausted  the  world  by  its 
violence,  he  was  enabled  to  arrange  it  for  a  time  according  to  his 
pleasure.  The  grand  empire  rose  internally  by  its  system  of  ad- 
ministration, which  replaced  the  government  of  assembles ;  its 
special  courts,  its  lyceums,  in  which  military  education  was  substi- 
tuted for  tlie  republican  education  of  the  central  schools;  its 
hereditary  nobility,  which  in  1808  completed  the  establishment 
of  inequality:    its  civil  discipline,  which  rendered  all  France  like 


472  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1807 

an  army  obedient  to  the  word  of  command ;  and  externally  by  its 
secondary  kingdoms,  its  confederate  states,  its  great  fiefs,  and  its 
supreme  chief.  Napoleon,  no  longer  meeting  resistance  anywhere, 
could  command  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other. 

At  this  period  all  the  emperor's  attention  was  directed  to 
England,  the  only  power  that  could  secure  itself  from  his  attacks. 
Pitt  had  been  dead  a  year,  but  the  British  cabinet  followed  with 
much  ardor  and  pertinacity  his  plans  with  respect  to  France.  After 
having  vainly  formed  a  third  and  a  fourth  coalition  it  did  not  lay 
down  arms.  It  was  a  war  to  the  death.  Great  Britain  had  de- 
clared France  in  a  state  of  blockade,  and  furnished  the  emperor 
with  the  means  of  cutting  off  its  continental  intercourse  by 
a  similar  measure.  The  continental  blockade,  which  began  in 
1807,  was  the  second  period  of  Napoleon's  system.  In  order 
to  attain  universal  and  uncontested  supremacy,  he  made  use  of  arms 
against  the  Continent  and  the  cessation  of  commerce  against  Eng- 
land. But  in  forbidding  to  the  continental  states  all  communica- 
tion with  England  he  was  preparing  new  difficulties  for  himself, 
and  soon  added  to  the  animosity  of  opinion  excited  by  his  despot- 
ism, and  the  hatred  of  states  produced  by  his  conquering  domina- 
tion, the  exasperation  of  private  interests  and  commercial  suffering 
occasioned  by  the  blockade.  The  germ  of  the  idea  of  the  famous 
"  continental  system  "  is  to  be  found  in  the  doctrine  of  the  "  nat- 
ural frontiers  of  France,"  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  the  directory, 
whose  policy  it  was  to  overcome  England's  sea  power  by  shutting 
out  her  trade  from  the  Continent.  In  1795  Cambaceres,  Merlin 
of  Douai,  Boissy  d'Anglas,  and  Sieves  were  ardent  advocates  of 
natural  frontiers.  "  The  republic,"  said  Cambaceres,  *'  has  its 
natural  limits  in  the  Alps  and  the  Pyrennes.  .  .  .  But  on  the 
north  it  is  contiguous  with  foreign  possessions,  the  delimitation  of 
which  and  the  jealous  governments  of  which  have  been  the  source 
of  centuries  of  war.  .  .  .  You  will  examine  if  the  wisdom  of 
the  nation  and  the  experience  of  centuries  does  not  require  that 
you  conduct  the  negotiations  with  reference  to  the  limits  of  the 
French  republic  with  a  sure  hand;  if  the  execution  of  this  great 
design  be  not  the  basis  of  and  the  true  guaranty  of  universal  peace." 
Dubois-Crancie  had  before  this  proposed  to  form  Flolland  into  a 
republic  in  imitation  of  that  of  France,  and  to  give  Hanover  to 
Prussia  in  compensation  for  its  Rhenish  possessions.  As  early  as 
1798  we  find  the  thought  of  the  establishment  of  the  Confederation 


THEEMPIRE  473 

1807-1810 

of  the  Rhine  under  French  protection  in  the  mind  of  the  directory, 
and  the  crowding  of  Prussia  and  Austria  eastward  in  order  that 
France  might  acquire  control  of  the  mouths  of  the  Elbe  and  Weser 
Rivers  and  so  close  the  seaboard  to  England.* 

Napoleon  felt,  in  the  exuberance  of  victory  after  the  battle 
of  Jena,  that  the  time  had  come  for  putting  his  plans  for  excluding 
England  from  the  Continent  into  execution.  Prussia  in  occupying 
Hanover  had  issued  a  proclamation  excluding  British  trade,  March 
28,  1806.  England  immediately  declared  the  mouths  of  the  Ems, 
Weser,  Elbe,  and  Trave  in  a  state  of  blockade  (April  8).  This 
was  followed  by  the  more  comprehensive  blockade  announced 
in  the  first  document  which  was  sent  to  all  the  representatives 
of  neutral  powers  then  at  London.  The  policy  of  England 
served  Napoleon  as  an  excuse  for  his  Berlin  Decree,  although  he 
was  undoubtedly  actuated  by  other  motives  in  issuing  it.  January 
7,  1807,  England  answered  with  an  order  in  council  prohibiting 
coast  trade  between  the  ports  of  the  enemy  or  of  his  allies.  This 
was  deemed  insufficient  after  the  ministry  had  learned  of  the  secret 
articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Tilsit,  and  three  orders  were  issued 
November  11,  establishing  an  undisguised  "paper"  blockade.  The 
vague,  cumbrous  phraseology  of  these  decrees  became  notorious,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  issue  supplementary  and  explanatory  orders,  five 
of  which  appeared  November  25.  One  of  these  established  the 
rule  that  licenses  had  to  be  procured  from  the  English  govern- 
ment by  neutral  traders.  Napoleon  rejilicd  with  the  Milan  Decree, 
and  the  President  of  the  United  States  ordered  the  first  embargo 
December  22,  1807.  Later  decrees  w'ere  issued  by  Napoleon  in 
enforcing  liis  system;  for  example  that  of  Bayonne  (April  17, 
1808)  ordered  the  customs  officials  to  confiscate  all  American  ves- 
sels in  French  ports.  That  of  the  Trianon  (August  5,  1810)  was 
directed  against  smuggling  and  that  of  Fontainebleau  (October 
18,  1810)  ordered  all  English  goods  which  could  be  seized  to  be 
publicly  burned.  Finally  the  annexation  of  the  coast  of  the  North 
Sea  in  December,  1810,  was  justified  upon  the  ground  that  Eng- 
land had  rendered  the  measure  necessary  by  her  commercial 
policy.^ 

^  See  JallifBcr,  "  Histoirc  Contcmporainc,"  p.  175,  note,  and  Bourgeois, 
"Manuel  Ilistorique  dc  Politique  fitrani^i-re,"  vol.  IT.,  ch.  xi. 

^  The  documents  relating  to  the  continental  system  have  been  gathered  to- 
gether and  pulili<hcd  in  translation  hy  the  department  of  history  of  the  Univer- 
sity  of   l^ennsylvania,   "Translations   and   Reprints,"    vol.    II.,    No.    j.     The    two 


474  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1807-1808 

England  was  placed  under  the  ban  of  continental  Europe 
at  the  peace.  Russia  and  Denmark  in  Northern  Seas ;  I'rance, 
Spain,  and  Holland,  in  the  Mediterranean  and  the  ocean,  were 
obliged  to  declare  against  it.  This  period  was  the  height  of  the 
imperial  sway.  Napoleon  employed  all  his  activity  and  all  his 
genius  in  creating  maritime  resources  capable  of  counterbalancing 
tiie  forces  of  England,  which  had  then  eleven  hundred  ships  of  war 
of  every  class.  He  caused  ports  to  be  constructed,  coasts  to  be 
fortified,  ships  to  be  built  and  prepared,  everything  for  combating 
in  a  few  years  upon  this  new  battlefield.  But  before  that  moment 
arrived,  he  wished  to  secure  the  Spanish  peninsula,  and  to  found 
his  dynasty  there,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a  firmer  and  more 
favorable  policy.  The  expedition  of  Portugal  in  1807,  and  the 
invasion  of  Spain  in  1808,  began  for  him  and  for  Europe  a  new 
order  of  events. 

Portugal  had  for  some  time  been  a  complete  English  colony. 
The  emperor,  in  concert  with  the  Bourbons  of  Madrid,  decided 
by  the  Treaty  of  Fontainebleau,  of  October  27,  1807,  that  the  house 
of  Braganza  had  ceased  to  reign.  A  French  army,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Junot,  entered  Portugal,  The  prince  regent  embarked  for 
Brazil,  and  the  French  took  possession  of  Lisbon  on  November  30, 
1807.  Napoleon's  motive  in  seizing  Portugal  was  to  deprive  Eng- 
land of  a  foothold  upon  the  Continent.  The  French  occupation  of 
Spain  logically  followed.  As  far  back  as  April  23,  1800,  Napoleon 
had  written  to  Talleyrand :  "  Why,  since  Portugal  refuses  to 
make  peace,  does  not  Spain  seize  on  several  provinces  of  that 
kingdom  which  might  be  exchanged,  at  the  general  peace,  for 
Minorca?"  This  invasion  was  only  an  approach  toward  Spain. 
In  October,  1807,  the  emperor  had  made  the  Spanish  king  and  his 
minister,  Godoy,  acquainted  with  his  purposes  against  Portugal, 
but  he  did  not  tell  them  that  he  already  harbored  the  idea  of  ruining 
the  Spanish  Bourbons  as  he  had  the  house  of  Braganza.  The 
Frencli  minister  in  Madrid  provided  the  means,  and  Eugene  Beau- 
harnais  encouraged  Prince  Ferdinand  to  intrigue  against  his  father. 
On  October  12,  1807,  the  former  wrote  to  Napoleon  asking  for  the 
hand  of  an  imperial  princess.  The  plots  prevailing  in  the  Spanish 
royal  house  afforded  Napoleon  an  opportunity    to    intervene    in 

most  important  dcrrees  are  those  of  "Berlin,  November  21,  1806,  and  of  Milan, 
December  17,  1807.  The  conduct  of  England  in  retaliation  bore  heavily  upon  the 
American  neutral  trade  and  occasioned  Jefferson's   famous   embargo  policy. 


T  H  E     E  INI  P  I  R  E  475 

1807-1809 

Spain  without  divulging  his  purposes.  On  October  28,  1807,  how- 
ever, Charles  discovered  proof  of  his  son's  treason,  but  did  not 
know  of  his  relations  with  Napoleon,  and  in  consequence  walked 
right  into  the  trap  by  himself  invoking  French  aid.  Within  a  fort- 
night the  French  general  Clarke,  who  was  minister  of  war,  re- 
ceived orders  to  move  forward  the  army  of  the  Gironde  to  the 
Spanish  frontier,  and  to  fortify  the  strong  places.  In  double  con- 
sternation Ferdinand  now  revealed  the  nature  of  his  intrigues  with 
France,  and  Charles,  in  order  to  save  himself  from  the  impending 
intervention,  pardoned  his  son.  But  Napoleon  was  not  to  be 
balked.  On  November  13  Napoleon  informed  Charles  IV.  that  he 
intended  to  increase  the  French  army  in  Portugal,  but  instead  of 
so  doing  the  new  detachments  were  quartered  in  various  Spanish 
provinces.  By  February,  1809,  there  were  three  army  corps  of 
12,000  men  each  in  Catalonia,  another  in  Navarre,  while  the  occu- 
pation of  Pampeluna  and  Barcelona  at  either  end  of  the  Pyrennees 
was  evidence  that  the  French  occupation  of  Spain  was  an  accom- 
plished fact. 

No  doubt  at  this  time  he  formed  the  project  of  putting  one  of 
his  brothers  on  the  throne  of  Spain ;  he  thought  he  could  easily 
overturn  a  divided  family,  an  expiring  monarchy,  and  obtain  the 
consent  of  a  people  whom  he  would  restore  to  civilization.  Under 
the  pretext  of  the  maritime  war  and  the  blockade,  his  troops  en- 
tered the  peninsula,  occupied  the  coasts  and  principal  places,  and 
encamped  near  ^Madrid.  It  was  then  suggested  to  the  royal  family 
to  retire  to  Mexico,  after  the  example  of  the  house  of  Braganza. 
But  the  people  rose  against  this  departure;  Godoy,  the  object  of 
public  hatred,  was  in  great  risk  of  losing  his  life,  and  the  Prince 
of  the  Asturias  was  proclaimed  king,  under  the  title  of  Ferdinand 
VII.  The  emperor  took  advantage  of  this  court  revolution  to  bring 
about  his  own.  The  h^rench  entered  ]^Iadrid  (]\larch  23)  and  he 
himself  proceeded  to  Bayonne,  whither  he  summoned  the  Span- 
ish princes.  Ferdinand  restored  the  crown  to  his  father,  who  in 
his  turn  resigned  it  in  favor  of  Napoleon ;  the  latter  had  it  decreed 
on  his  brother  Joseph  by  a  supreme  junta,  by  the  council  of  Cas- 
tile, and  tlie  municipality  of  Aladrid.  Ferdinand  was  sent  to  the 
Chateau  dc  Valencav.  and  Charles  TV.  fixed  his  residence  at  Cnm- 
])icgne.  Napoleon  called  his  i)riUhcr-in-la\v,  Murat,  Grand  Duke 
of  Berg,  to  the  throne  of  Naples,  in  the  place  of  Joseph. 

At  this  period  began  the  first  opposition  to  tlic  domination  of 


476  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1803 

the  emperor  and  the  continental  system.  The  reaction  manifested 
itself  in  three  countries,  hitherto  allies  of  France,  and  it  brought  on 
the  fifth  coalition.  The  court  of  Rome  was  dissatisfied;  the  penin- 
sula was  wounded  in  its  national  pride  by  having  imposed  upon  it 
a  foreign  king;  in  its  usages,  by  the  suppression  of  convents,  of 
the  Inquisition,  and  of  the  grandees;  Holland  suffered  in  its  com- 
merce from  the  blockade,  and  Austria  supported  impatiently  its 
losses  and  subordinate  condition.  England,  watching  for  an  op- 
portunity to  revive  the  struggle  on  the  Continent,  excited  the  re- 
sistance of  Rome,  the  Peninsula,  and  the  cabinet  of  Vienna.  The 
Pope  had  been  cold  toward  France  since  1805;  he  had  hoped 
that  his  pontifical  complaisance  in  reference  to  Napoleon's  corona- 
tion would  have  been  recompensed  by  the  restoration  to  the  eccle- 
siastical domain  of  those  provinces  which  the  directory  had  annexed 
to  the  Cisalpine  republic.  Deceived  in  this  expectation,  he  joined 
the  European  counter-revolutionary  opposition,  and  from  1807  to 
1808  the  Roman  states  became  the  rendezvous  of  English  emis- 
saries. 

After  some  warm  remonstrances  the  emperor  ordered  Gen- 
eral Miollis  to  occupy  Rome;  the  Pope  threatened  him  with 
excommunication,  and  Napoleon  seized  on  the  legations  of  An- 
cona,  Urbino,  Macerata,  and  Camerino,  which  became  part  of  the 
Italian  kingdom.  The  legate  left  Paris  on  April  3,  1808,  and  the 
religious  struggle  for  temporal  interests  commenced  with  the  head 
of  the  church,  whom  Napoleon  should  either  not  have  recognized 
or  not  have  despoiled. 

The  war  with  the  peninsula  was  still  more  serious.  On  May 
2,  1808,  the  people  of  Madrid,  without  reflecting  an  instant  upon 
the  great  disproportion  between  their  forces  and  those  of  the 
French,  without  regarding  the  fact  that  Murat  had  25,000  men 
against  3000  Spanish  troops,  with  cavalry  in  addition  and  nine 
pieces  of  artillery,  attacked  the  French  with  the  fury  of  a  mob. 
It  was  the  signal  for  the  revolt  of  all  Spain.  The  Spaniards  rec- 
ognized Ferdinand  VII.  as  king,  in  a  provincial  junta  held  at 
Seville  on  May  27,  1808,  and  they  took  arms  in  all  the  provinces 
which  were  not  occupied  by  French  troops.  The  Portuguese  also 
rose  at  Oporto  on  June  16.  These  two  insurrections  were  at  first 
attended  with  the  happiest  results;  in  a  short  time  they  made 
rapid  progress.  On  May  30  the  two  representatives  of  the  Span- 
ish junta  embarked  on  board  a  Jersey  merchantman    and  on  June 


T  H  E     E  ]M  P  I  R  E  477 

1808 

6  landed  at  Falmouth.  An  English  naval  officer  accompanied  them 
to  London.  Lord  Wellesley  Pool  could  hardly  believe  his  ears 
when  he  learned  that  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  impoverished  king- 
dom of  Spain  war  had  actually  been  engaged  in  against  the  French. 
The  English  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  Canning,  from  the  first 
was  deeply  impressed  with  the  nature  of  the  uprising,  and  on  June 
15  the  English  government  voted  to  form  an  offensive  and  de- 
fensive alliance  between  England  and  Spain.  General  Dupont  laid 
down  arms  at  Baylen  in  the  province  of  Cordova,  July  21,  1808, 
and  surrendered  17,000  men.  This  first  reverse  of  the  French  arms 
excited  the  liveliest  hope  and  enthusiasm  among  the  Spaniards. 
The  disaster  of  Cintra  followed,  where  Junot  also  surrendered, 
August  30,  1808.  But  these  were  not  the  sole  reverses  of  the  French 
arms  during  this  summer.  Within  three  months,  in  addition  to 
what  happened  at  Baylen  and  Cintra,  Joseph  left  Aladrid,  where 
Ferdinand  VIL  was  proclaimed,  and  retired  beyond  the  Ebro;  Mon- 
cey  was  beaten  in  Valencia ;  Verdier  was  checked  before  Saragossa ; 
Duhemse  was  repulsed  at  Gerona;  and  many  of  the  Italian  troops 
had  deserted  to  the  Spanish. 

Napoleon  was  largely  to  blame  for  the  reverses  in  Spain.  In  his 
ignorance  of  the  nature  of  the  country  and  the  character  of  the 
Spanish  people  he  had  based  his  tactics  upon  a  rapid  and  complete 
occupation  of  Madrid.  It  seemed  to  him  that,  with  Madrid  and 
the  road  open  between  it  and  I\ampeluna  or  Barcelona,  he  would 
be  master  of  Spain.  He  did  not  know  that  Spain  was  richer,  more 
populous  and  stronger  in  its  provinces  than  in  the  capital ;  he  did 
not  know  that  ]\Iadrid  was  an  artificial  creation  and  that  its  influ- 
ence over  the  peninsula  was  infinitely  less  than  that  of  Paris,  Ber- 
lin, or  Vienna  in  their  respective  countries.  The  four  provinces  of 
Andalusia  in  1808  had  a  population  of  nearly  two  millions,  and 
the  Spanish  troops  there  numbered  35,000  men.  By  June  the  junta 
had  raised  60,000  men.  Better  acquainted  with  the  condition  of 
things  than  the  emperor,  the  ^Marshal  ]\Ioncey  had  estimated  that 
at  least  40,000  men  would  be  required  for  the  subjugation  of  An- 
dalusia. 

Napoleon  gave  General  Dupont  but  half  that  number  of  men, 
and  2500  of  these  were  Swiss  and  Spanish  of  doubtful  fidelity. 
Accordingly  the  English  general  Wellington  was  able  to  take  pos- 
session of  this  kingdom  with  25,000  men.  ^Vleanwhile,  the  Pope 
was  declaring  against  Napoleon;  the  Spanish  insurgents  were  enter- 


478  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1808 

ing  Madrid;  the  English  were  again  setting  foot  on  the  Continent; 
the  King  of  Sweden  avowed  himself  an  enemy  of  the  European 
imperial  league;  and  Austria  was  making  considerable  armaments 
and  preparing  for  a  new  struggle. 

Fortunately  for  Napoleon,  Russia  remained  faithful  to  the 
alliance  and  engagements  of  Tilsit.  The  Emperor  Alexander  had 
at  that  time  a  fit  of  enthusiasm  and  affection  for  this  powerful  and 
extraordinary  mortal.  Napoleon  wishing  to  be  sure  of  the  north, 
before  he  conveyed  all  his  forces  to  the  peninsula  had  an  interview 
with  Alexander  at  Erfurt,  on  September  27,  1808.  The  two  mas- 
ters of  the  north  and  west  guaranteed  to  each  other  the  repose  and 
submission  of  Europe.  Napoleon  marched  into  Spain,  and  Alex- 
ander undertook  Sweden.  The  presence  of  the  emperor  soon 
changed  the  fortune  of  the  war  in  the  peninsula.  He  brought  with 
him  80,000  veteran  soldiers,  just  come  from  Germany.  Several 
victories  made  him  master  of  most  of  the  Spanish  provinces.  He 
made  his  entry  into  Madrid  and  presented  himself  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  peninsula,  not  as  a  master,  but  as  a  liberator.  "  I  have 
abolished,"  he  said  to  them,  "  the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition, 
against  which  the  age  and  Europe  protested.  Priests  should  direct 
the  conscience,  but  ought  not  to  exercise  any  external  or  corporal 
jurisdiction  over  the  citizens.  I  have  suppressed  feudal  rights;  and 
everyone  may  set  up  inns,  ovens,  mills,  fisheries,  and  give  free  im- 
pulse to  his  industry.  The  selfishness,  wealth,  and  prosperity  of  a 
few  did  more  injury  to  your  agriculture  than  the  heats  of  the  ex- 
treme summer.  As  there  is  but  one  God,  one  system  of  justice 
only  should  exist  in  a  state.  All  private  tribunals  were  usurped 
and  opposed  to  the  rights  of  the  nation.  I  have  suppressed  them. 
The  present  generation  may  change  its  opinion ;  too  many  passions 
have  been  brought  into  play;  but  your  grandchildren  will  bless  me 
as  your  regenerator;  they  will  rank  among  their  memorable  davs 
those  in  which  I  appeared  among  you,  and  from  those  days  will 
Spain  date  its  prosperity." 

Sucli  was  indeed  the  part  of  Napoleon  in  the  peninsula,  which 
could  only  be  restored  to  a  better  state  of  things,  and  to  liberty, 
by  the  revival  of  civilization.  The  establishment  of  independence 
cannot  be  effected  all  at  once,  any  more  than  anything  else ;  and 
wlien  a  country  is  ignorant,  poor,  and  behindhand,  its  social  con- 
dition must  be  reconstructed  before  liberty  can  be  thought  of. 
Napoleon,  the  oppressor  of  civilized  nations,  was  a  real  regenerator 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  479 

1809 

for  the  peninsula.  But  the  two  parties  of  civil  Hberty  and  religious 
restitution,  that  of  the  cortes  and  that  of  the  monks,  though  with 
far  different  aims,  came  to  an  understanding  for  their  common 
defense.  The  one  was  at  the  head  of  the  upper  and  the  middle 
classes,  the  other  of  the  populace ;  and  they  vied  with  each  other  in 
exciting  the  Spaniards  to  enthusiasm  with  the  sentiments  of  inde- 
pendence or  religious  ferv^or. 

Napoleon  had  engaged  in  a  long  and  dangerous  enterprise,  in 
which  his  whole  system  of  war  was  at  fault.  Victory  here  did 
not  consist  in  the  defeat  of  an  army  and  the  possession  of  a  capital, 
but  in  the  entire  occupation  of  the  territory,  and,  what  was  still 
more  difficult,  the  submission  of  the  public  mind.  Napoleon,  how- 
ever, was  preparing  to  subdue  this  people  with  his  irresistible 
activity  and  inflexible  determination,  when  the  fifth  coalition  called 
him  again  to  Germany. 

Austria  had  turned  to  advantage  his  absence,  and  that  of  his 
troops.  It  made  a  powerful  effort,  and  raised  550,000  men,  com- 
prising the  Landwehr,  and  took  the  field  in  the  spring  of  1809. 
The  Tyrol  rose,  and  King  Jerome  was  driven  from  his  capital  by 
the  Westphalians ;  Italy  wavered ;  and  Prussia  only  waited  till 
Napoleon  met  with  a  reverse,  to  take  arms.  Poland  had  revolted 
under  Poniatowsky.  But  the  emperor  was  still  at  the  height  of 
his  power  and  prosperity.  He  hastened  from  Madrid  in  the  begin- 
ning of  February,  and  directed  the  members  of  the  confederation 
to  keep  their  contingents  in  readiness.  On  April  2  he  left  Paris. 
As  so  many  times  before,  this  campaign  was  fought  both  in  Ger- 
many and  Italy.  The  Archduke  John  twice  defeated  Prince 
Eugene  near  the  Adigc,  but  the  chief  operations  of  the  Austrians 
were  in  Germany,  where  the  Archduke  Charles,  the  ablest  com- 
mander the  allies  had  yet  found,  crossed  the  Inn  River  on  April  9, 
1809,  and  entered  Bavaria,  where  the  h'rench  army  under  Bcrtliier 
was  spread  over  the  country  in  order  to  maintain  its  subjection. 
In  order  to  prevent  its  consolidation  tlie  success  of  the  Archduke 
Charles  depended  upon  the  rapidity  of  his  movements.  But  he 
dallied  for  six  precious  days  on  tlie  Iser  River,  in  the  hope  of  being 
able  to  attack  the  strongest  French  army  corps,  that  of  Davout. 
The  delay  was  fatal,  for  in  tlie  interval  Nap<3]con  arrived  from 
Paris,  concentrated  his  forces  and  took  the  oft'ensive  with  the  hope 
of  cutting  the  archduke  off  from  his  line  of  retreat,  won  the  bat- 
tles of  Eckmiihl    (April  22),  Aspern-Essling    (May  21-22),   and 


480  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1809-1810 

Wagram  (July  6),  and  for  the  second  time  occupied  Vienna, 
after  a  campaign  of  four  months.  While  he  was  pursuing  the 
Austrian  armies  the  English  landed  on  the  Island  of  Walcheren 
and  appeared  before  Antwerp;  but  a  levy  of  national  guards 
sufficed  to  frustrate  the  expedition  of  the  Scheldt.  The  Peace  of 
Vienna,  of  October  ii,  1809,  deprived  the  house  of  Austria  of  sev- 
eral more  provinces,  and  compelled  it  again  to  adopt  the  conti- 
nental system. 

Austria  ceded  Croatia,  Carniola,  Trieste,  and  most  of  Carin- 
thia  to  the  French  empire;  the  grand  duchy  of  Warsaw  was 
increased  by  the  cession  of  West  and  New  Galicia,  the  portion  of 
Austria's  share  of  the  Polish  partition  of  1795,  and  Cracow.  Even 
the  czar  received  a  slice  of  Austrian  territory.  Austria  lost  four 
and  one-half  millions  of  subjects,  her  maritime  provinces,  and 
agreed  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  $17,000,000. 

This  period  was  remarkable  for  the  new  character  of  the 
struggle.  It  began  the  reaction  of  Europe  against  the  empire,  and 
announced  the  alliance  of  dynasties,  people,  nations,  the  priesthood, 
and  commerce.  All  whose  interests  were  injured  made  an  attempt 
at  resistance,  which  at  first  was  destined  to  fail.  Napoleon,  since 
the  Peace  of  Amiens,  had  entered  on  a  career  that  must  necessarily 
terminate  in  the  possession  or  hostility  of  all  Europe.  Carried 
away  by  his  character  and  position,  he  had  created  against  the 
people  a  system  of  administration  of  unparalleled  benefit  to  power; 
against  Europe,  a  system  of  secondary  monarchies  and  grand  fiefs, 
which  facilitated  his  plans  of  conquest ;  and,  lastly,  against  Eng- 
land, the  blockade  which  suspended  its  commerce,  and  that  of  the 
Continent.  Nothing  impeded  him  in  the  realization  of  those  im- 
mense but  insensate  designs.  Portugal  opened  a  communication 
with  the  English :  he  invaded  it.  The  royal  family  of  Spain,  by 
its  quarrels  and  vacillations,  compromised  the  extremities  of  the 
empire :  he  compelled  it  to  abdicate,  that  he  might  reduce  the  penin- 
sula in  a  bolder  and  less  wavering  policy.  The  Pope  kept  up 
relations  with  the  enemy:  his  patrimony  was  diminished.  He 
threatened  excommunication :  the  French  entered  Rome.  He  real- 
ized his  threat  by  a  bull:  he  was  dethroned  as  a  temporal  sovereign 
in  1809.  Finally,  after  the  battle  of  Wagram,  and  the  Peace  of 
Vienna,  Holland  became  a  depot  for  the  English  merchandise,  on 
account  of  its  commercial  wants,  and  the  emperor  dispossessed  his 
brother  Louis  of  that  kingdom,  which  on  July  i,  1810,  became  in- 


JliSKPHIXK.    EMPRESS    C)F    THE    FKENCII 

(  r.orn     1 76J.       I  )ieil     1814) 

Poinii);^,     in     tl-.c    po.<.<cssion     of    Count     Cir:\ilhido 

Pdintc.l    by    Fi\nn-0!s    Pa.<Ci:l    G^'rjrl 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I R  E  481 

1810-1811 

corporated  with  the  empire.  He  shrank  from  no  invasion,  because 
he  would  not  endure  opposition  or  hesitation  from  any  quarter. 
All  were  compelled  to  submit,  allies  as  well  as  enemies,  the  chief 
of  the  church  as  well  as  kings,  brothers  as  well  as  strangers;  but, 
though  conquered  this  time,  all  who  had  joined  this  new  league 
only  waited  an  opportunity  to  rise  again. 

Meantime,  after  the  Peace  of  Vienna,  Napoleon  still  added  to 
the  extent  and  power  of  the  empire.  Sweden  having  undergone 
an  internal  revolution,  and  the  king,  Gustavus  Adolphus  IV.,  hav- 
ing been  forced  to  abdicate,  admitted  the  continental  system. 
Bernadotte,  Prince  of  Ponte-Corvo,  was  elected  by  the  states-gen- 
eral hereditary  Prince  of  Sweden,  and  King  Charles  XIII.  adopted 
him  for  his  son.  The  blockade  was  observed  throughout  Europe; 
and  the  empire,  augmented  by  the  Roman  ctates,  the  Illyrian 
provinces,  Valais,  Holland,  and  the  Hansa  towns,  liad  a  hundred 
and  thirty  departments,  and  extended  from  Plamburg  and  Dantzig 
to  Trieste  and  Corfu.  Napoleon,  who  seemed  to  follow  a  rash  but 
inflexible  policy,  deviated  from  his  course  about  this  time  by  a 
second  marriage.  He  divorced  Josephine  that  he  might  give  an 
heir  to  the  empire,  and  married,  on  .\pril  i,  1810,  Marie  Louise, 
Archduchess  of  iVustria.  This  was  a  decided  error.  He  quitted 
his  position  and  his  post  as  a  parvenu  and  revolutionary  monarch, 
opposing  in  Europe  the  ancient  courts  as  the  republic  had  opposed 
the  ancient  governments.  He  placed  himself  in  a  false  situation 
with  respect  to  Austria,  which  he  ought  either  to  have  crushed 
after  the  victory  of  Wagram,  or  to  have  reinstated  in  its  posses- 
sions after  his  marriage  with  the  archduchess.  Solid  alliances 
only  repose  on  real  interests,  and  Napoleon  could  not  remove  from 
the  cabinet  of  Vienna  the  desire  or  power  of  renewing  hostilities. 
This  marriage  also  changed  the  character  of  his  empire,  and  sep- 
arated it  still  further  from  popular  interests;  he  sought  out  old 
families  to  give  luster  to  his  court,  and  did  all  he  could  to  amalga- 
mate together  the  old  and  the  new  nobility  as  he  mingled  old  and 
new  dynasties.  Austerlitz  had  established  tlic  plebeian  empire ; 
after  Wagram  was  established  the  noble  empire.  The  birth,  on 
March  20,  181 1,  of  a  son,  who  received  the  title  of  King  of  Rome, 
seemed  to  consolidate  the  power  of  Napoleon  by  securing  to  him 
a  successor. 

The  war  in  S])ain  was  prosecuted  with  vigor  during  the  years 
1810  and  181 1.     The  territory  of  the  peninsula  was  defended  inch 


482  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1810-1811 

by  inch,  and  it  was  necessary  to  take  several  towns  by  storm. 
Siichet,  Sotilt,  Mortier,  Ney,  and  Sebastiani  made  themselves  mas- 
ters of  several  provinces;  and  the  Spanish  junta,  unable  to  keep 
their  post  at  Seville,  retired  to  Cadiz,  which  the  French  army  began 
to  blockade.  The  new  expedition  into  Portugal  was  less  fortunate. 
Massena,  who  directed  it,  at  first  obliged  Wellington  to  retreat, 
and  took  Oporto  and  Olivenza ;  but  the  English  general  having 
entrenched  himself  in  the  strong  position  of  Torres- Vedras, 
]\Iassena,  unable  to  force  it,  was  compelled  to  evacuate  the 
country. 

While  the  war  was  proceeding  in  the  peninsula  with  ad- 
vantage, but  without  any  decided  success,  a  new  campaign  was 
preparing  in  the  north.  Russia  perceived  the  empire  of  Napoleon 
approaching  its  territories.  Shut  up  in  its  own  limits,  it  remained 
without  influence  or  acquisitions,  suffering  from  the  blockade, 
without  gaining  any  advantage  by  the  war.  This  cabinet,  more- 
over, endured  with  impatience  a  supremacy  to  which  itself  aspired, 
and  which  it  had  pursued  slowly  but  without  interruption  since 
the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great.  Recent  researches  have  shown  that 
the  ultimate  dream  of  Napoleon  probably  was  tlie  French  occupa- 
tion of  Constantinople  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Turkish  empire; 
and  this  single  fact  is  sufficient  to  explain  the  new  hostility  of 
Russia.  This  supreme  purpose  is  the  key  to  Napoleon's  long  and 
complicated  negotiations  with  the  czar,  for  his  purposes  here  ran 
counter  to  the  cherished  tradition  of  the  Russian  state.  After 
Tilsit  all  arrangements  were  completed  between  Alexander  and 
Napoleon  for  a  joint  enterprise  against  Eg}'pt  (March  i8,  1808), 
and  the  partition  of  Turkey  was  sketched  out.  But  Caulaincourt 
and  Roumantsov,  the  representatives  of  the  tv.'O  rulers,  were  un- 
able to  arrange  a  satisfactory  compromise  with  reference  to  Con- 
stantinople and  the  Dardanelles.  Napoleon  proposed  a  personal 
interview  with  the  Czar,  but  Alexander  refused  if  he  was  not 
promised  Constantinople.  In  spite  of  the  alliance  at  Tilsit 
Napoleon  and  Alexander  remained  divided  with  reference  to  the 
partition  of  Turkey.  Talleyrand  and  Fouche  did  not  sympathize 
with  this  policy  of  Napoleon,  and  from  1808  secretly  worked  to 
defeat  his  purposes.  There  is  no  doubt  to-day  of  Talleyrand's 
absolute  treason  to  his  sovereign  and  of  his  treacherous  relations 
with  Metternich.  Austria's  determination  to  resort  to  war  again 
in    1809    was    partially     influenced    by   the    hope    of    preventing 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  483 

1810-1811 

Napoleon  from  becoming  dominant  in  the  Balkan  peninsula.*^ 
About  the  close  of  1810,  Russia  increased  its  armies,  renewed  its 
commercial  relations  with  Great  Britain,  and  did  not  seem  indis- 
posed to  a  rupture.  The  year  181 1  was  spent  in  negotiations 
which  led  to  nothing,  and  preparations  for  w^ar  were  made  on  both 
sides.  The  emperor,  whose  armies  were  before  Cadiz,  and  who 
relied  on  the  cooperation  of  the  west  and  north  against  Russia, 

^  The  following  is  tlie  celebrated  letter  which  Napoleon  wrote  to  the  Czar  of 
Russia  on  February  2,  1808: 

"  Paris,  2nd  February,  1808. 

"  SIR,  MY  BROTHER, — General  Savary  has  just  arrived,  I  have  spent 
hours  speaking  with  him  about  your  majesty.  .  .  .  You  have  seen  the  debates 
in  the  English  parliament,  and  the  decision  to  carry  on  the  war.  I  have  written 
to  Caulaincourt  on  this  subject,  and  if  your  majesty  will  condescend  to  speak 
with  him  he  will  acquaint  you  with  my  opinion.  It  is  only  by  large  and  vast 
measures  that  we  shall  be  able  to  arrive  at  peace  and  consolidate  our  system. 
Let  your  majesty  augment  and  fortify  your  army.  I  will  give  you  all  the  help 
I  can:  no  feeling  of  jealousy  animates  me  against  Russia:  I  desire  her  glory, 
prosperity,  and  extension.  Will  your  majesty  allow  a  person  tenderly  and  truly 
devoted  to  you  to  give  you  a  bit  of  advice?  Your  majesty  should  drive  the 
Swedes  to  a  greater  distance  from  his  capital.  Extend  your  frontiers  on  this 
side  as  much  as  you  like   (id  est,  give  up  all  idea  of  Constantinople). 

"  An  army  of  50,000  men — Russians,  French,  and  perhaps  Austrians — march- 
ing upon  Asia  by  way  of  Constantinople  would  no  sooner  have  reached  the 
Euphrates  than  England  would  tremble  and  go  down  upon  her  knees.  I  am 
ready  in  Dalmatia:  your  majesty  is  ready  on  the  Danube.  A  month  after  coming 
to  terms  an  army  could  be  on  the  Bosporus.  The  blow  would  reecho  through 
India  and  England  would  be  subdued.  I  shall  refuse  none  of  the  preliminary 
stipulations  necessary  to  attain  so  great  an  end.  But  the  reciprocal  interest  of 
our  two  countries  should  be  combined  and  balanced.  This  can  only  be  settled 
in  an  interview  with  your  majesty,  or  after  sincere  conferences  between  Roman- 
zov  and  Caulaincourt,  and  a  dispatch  here  of  a  man  favorable  to  the  system. 
Count  Tolstoy  is  c\n  excellent  man,  but  he  is  prejudiced  against  and  distrusts 
France,  and  is  far  from  being  on  a  par  with  the  events  of  Tilsit  and  the  new 
position  in  which  the  close  friendship  between  your  majesty  and  myself  have 
placed  the  universe.  Everything  can  be  signed  and  decided  before  March  15. 
On  May  i  our  troops  can  be  in  Asia,  and  at  the  same  epoch  the  troops  of  your 
majesty  at  Stocklinlm.  Then  the  English,  threatened  in  India,  driven  from  the 
Levant,  will  be  cruslicd  under  the  weight  of  events  with  which  the  atmosphere 
is  laden.  Your  majesty  and  myself  would  have  preferred  the  pleasures  of 
peace,  ar.d  to  pa>;s  our  lives  in  the  midst  of  our  vast  empires,  engaged  in 
vivifyin'j;  them  and  rendering  them  happy  by  means  of  arts  and  a  beneficent 
administration.  The  enemies  of  the  world  object  to  this.  We  must  become 
greater  in  spite  of  ourselves.  It  is  both  wise  and  politic  to  do  what  destiny 
order;,  and  to  go  wliere  the  irresistiljle  march  of  events  leads  us.  Then  this 
cloud  of  pigmies  will  }iel(l  and  will  follow  the  movement  which  your  majesty 
and  I  shall  order,  and  tlie  Russian  people  will  be  content  with  the  glory,  the 
wealth,  and  the  fortune  which  will  be  the  result  of  these  great  events. 

"  Napoleon." 

I'Voin  l!ini;ham"s  "Letters  and  Dispatches  of  Xapolcon,"  vol.  II.  pp.  36-(-365. 


484  TPIE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1812 

made  with  ardor  preparations  for  an  enterprise  which  was  intended 
to  reduce  the  only  power  as  yet  untouched,  and  to  carry  his  victori- 
ous eagles  even  to  Moscow.  He  obtained  the  assistance  of  Prussia 
and  Austria,  which  engaged  by  the  treaties  of  February  24  and 
March  14,  1812,  to  furnish  auxiliary  bodies,  one  of  20,000  and 
the  other  of  30,000  men.  All  the  unemployed  forces  of  France 
were  immediately  on  foot.  A  scnatus  consiiUum  divided  the 
national  guard  into  three  bodies  for  the  home  service,  and  appro- 
priated a  hundred  cohorts  of  the  first  ban  (nearly  100,000  men)  to 
active  military  service.  On  March  9  Napoleon  left  Paris  on  this 
vast  expedition.  During  several  months  he  fixed  his  court  at 
Dresden,  where  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the  King  of  Prussia,  and 
all  the  sovereigns  of  Germany  came  to  bow  before  his  high  for- 
tune.    On  June  22  war  was  declared  against  Russia. 

In  this  campaign  Napoleon  was  guided  by  the  maxims  he  had 
always  found  successful.  He  had  terminated  all  the  wars  he  had 
undertaken  by  the  rapid  defeat  of  the  enemy,  the  occupation  of  his 
capital,  and  concluded  the  peace  by  parceling  out  his  territory.  His 
project  was  to  reduce  Russia  by  creating  the  kingdom  of  Poland, 
as  he  had  reduced  Austria  by  forming  the  kingdoms  of  Bavaria 
and  Wurtemberg,  after  Austerlitz;  and  Prussia,  by  organizing 
those  of  Saxony  and  Westphalia,  after  Jena.  With  this  object  he 
had  stipulated  with  the  Austrian  cabinet  by  the  treaty  of  March 
14  to  exchange  Galicia  for  the  Illyrian  provinces.  The  establish- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  Poland  was  proclaimed  by  the  diet  of 
Warsaw,  but  in  an  incomplete  manner,  and  Napoleon,  who,  accord- 
ing to  his  custom,  wished  to  finish  all  in  one  campaign,  advanced 
at  once  into  the  heart  of  Russia,  instead  of  prudently  organizing 
the  Polish  barrier  against  it.  His  army  amounted  to  about  500,000 
men.  The  causes  of  the  war  with  Russia  may  be  said  to  be 
Russia's  refusal  to  sustain  the  continental  system ;  her  fear  lest 
Napoleon  would  destroy  Poland ;  the  deposition  of  the  Duke  of 
Oldenburg,  a  relative  of  the  czar,  which  Alexander  regarded  as  a 
personal  affront ;  and  finally,  Russia's  opposition  to  Napoleon's 
projects  in  Turkey.  He  passed  the  Niemen  on  June  24.  A  halt 
was  made  at  W'ilna  from  June  28  to  July  16.  It  was  here  that 
Napoleon  made  his  first  great  blunder.  Until  this  time  the  Poles 
had  constantly  looked  forward  to  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom 
of  Poland.  Napolcf-n's  failure  to  do  this  roused  them  to  hostility 
and  created  an  enemy  in  his  rear.     He  defeated  the  Russians  at 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  4-85 

1812 

Witepsk,  Astrowno,  Polotsk,  IMohilev,  Smolensk  (August  i8),  at 
the  Moskova,  known  as  the  battle  of  Borodino,  and  on  September 
14  made  his  entry  into  Moscow. 

The  Russian  cabinet  did  not  only  rely  for  its  defense  upon 
its  troops,  but  on  its  vast  territory,  and  on  its  climate.  As  the  con- 
quered armies  retreated  before  the  French,  they  burned  all  the  towns, 
devastated  the  provinces,  and  thus  prepared  great  difficulties  for 
the  foe  in  the  event  of  reverses  or  retreat.  According  to  this  plan 
of  defense,  Moscow  was  burned  by  its  governor,  Rostopchin,  as 
Smolensk,  Dorigoboui,  Viama,  Gjhat,  Mojaisko,  and  a  great  num- 
ber of  other  towns  and  villages  had  already  been.  The  em- 
peror ought  to  have  seen  that  this  war  would  not  terminate  as  the 
others  had  done ;  yet  conqueror  of  the  foe,  and  master  of  his  capital, 
he  conceived  hopes  of  peace  which  the  Russians  skillfully  encour- 
aged. Winter  was  approaching,  and  Napoleon  prolonged  his  stay 
at  ^Moscow  for  six  weeks.  He  delayed  his  movements  on  account 
of  the  deceptive  negotiations  of  the  Russians,  and  did  not  decide 
on  a  retreat  till  October  20.  This  retreat  was  disastrous,  and  began 
the  downfall  of  the  empire.  Napoleon  could  not  have  been  de- 
feated by  the  hand  of  man,  for  what  general  could  have  triumphed 
over  this  incomparable  chief?  what  army  could  have  conquered 
the  French  army?  But  his  reverses  were  to  take  place  in  the 
remote  limits  of  Furope,  in  the  frozen  regions  which  were  to  end 
his  conquering  domination.  He  lost,  with  the  close  of  this  cam- 
paign, not  by  a  defeat,  but  by  cold  and  famine,  in  the  midst  of 
Russian  snows  and  solitude,  his  old  army,  and  the  prestige  of  his 
fortune.'^  , 

The  retreat  was  effected  with  some  order  as  far  as  the 
Beresina,  where  it  became  one  vast  rout,  November  26-29.  After 
the  passage  of  this  river  Napoleon,  who  had  hitherto  accompanied 
his  army,  started  in  a  sledge  for  Paris,  in  great  haste,  a  conspiracy 
having  broken  out  there  during  his  absence.  General  IMallet,  wit1i 
a  few  others,  had  conceived  the  design  of  overthrowing  tliis  colos- 
sus of  power.  His  enterprise  w'as  daring,  and  as  it  was  grounded 
on  a  false  report  of  Napoleon's  death,  it  was  necessary  to  deceive 
too  many  for  success  to  lie  probable.  Besides,  the  empire  was  still 
firmly  established,  and  it  was  not  a  plot,  but  a  slow  and  general 
defection  to  destroy  it.  Aiallet's  plot  failed  and  its  leaders  were 
executed.     Tlic  emperor  on  his  return  found  tlie  nation  astounded 

■^  Upon   the  Russian  canipaign  sec  the  recent  ■work  of  11.   B.  George,   "  The 
Russian  Campaign  of   1812." 


486  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1813 

at  so  unusual  a  disaster.  But  the  different  bodies  of  the  state  still 
manifested  implicit  obedience.  He  reached  Paris  on  December  i8, 
obtained  a  levy  of  300,000  men,  inspired  a  spirit  of  sacrifice,  re- 
equipped  in  a  short  time,  with  his  wonderful  activity,  a  new  army, 
and  took  the  field  again  on  April  15,  1813. 

But  since  the  retreat  of  Moscow,  Napoleon  had  entered  on  a 
new  series  of  events.  It  was  in  1812  that  the  decline  of  his  empire 
manifested  itself.  The  weariness  of  his  domination  became  gen- 
eral. All  those  by  whose  consent  he  had  risen  took  part  against 
him.  The  priests  had  conspired  in  secret  since  his  rupture  with  the 
Pope.  Eight  state  prisons  had  been  created  in  an  official  manner 
against  the  dissentients  of  his  party.  The  national  masses  were  as 
tired  of  conquest  as  they  had  formerly  been  of  factions.  They  had 
expected  from  him  consideration  for  private  interests,  the  promo- 
tion of  commerce,  respect  for  men;  and  they  were  oppressed  by 
conscriptions,  taxes,  the  blockade,  provost  courts,  and  duties  which 
were  the  inevitable  consequences  of  this  conquering  system.  He 
had  no  longer  for  adversaries  the  few  who  remained  faithful  to 
the  political  object  of  the  revolution,  and  whom  he  styled  idealo- 
gists,  but  all  who,  without  definite  ideas,  wished  for  the  material 
advantages  of  belter  civilization.  Without,  whole  nations  groaned 
beneath  the  military  yoke,  and  the  fallen  dynasties  aspired  to  rise 
again.  The  whole  world  was  ill  at  ease;  and  one  check  served  to 
bring  about  a  general  rising.  "  I  triumphed,"  says  Napoleon  him- 
self, speaking  of  the  preceding  campaigns,  "  in  the  midst  of  con- 
stantly reviving  perils.  I  constantly  required  as  much  address  as 
voice.  Had  I  not  conquered  at  Austerlitz,  all  Prussia  would  have 
been  upon  me;  had  I  not  triumphed  at  Jena,  Austria  and  Spain 
would  have  attacked  my  rear;  had  I  not  fought  at  W'agram,  which 
action  was  not  a  decided  victory,  I  had  reason  to  fear  that  Russia 
would  forsake,  Prussia  rise  against  me,  and  the  English  were 
before  Antwerp."  Such  was  his  condition ;  the  further  he  ad- 
vanced in  his  career,  the  greater  need  he  had  to  conquer  more  and 
more  decisively.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  he  was  defeated,  the 
kings  he  had  subdued,  the  kings  he  had  made,  the  allies  he  had 
aggrandized,  the  states  he  had  incorporated  with  the  empire,  the 
senators  who  had  so  flattered  him,  and  e\'en  his  comrades  in  arms 
successi\ely  forsook  him.  The  field  of  battle  extended  to  Moscow 
in  181J,  drew  back  to  Dresden  in  1813,  and  to  Paris  in  1814;  so 
rapid  was  the  reverse  of  fortune. 


T  H  E     E  :M  P  I  R  E  487 

1812 

There  is  an  ominous  change  in  the  spirit  of  France  in  1812 — 
a  loss  of  conviction  on  the  part  of  the  people  and  a  diminishing  of 
spirit  in  the  army.  There  was  also  an  alteration  in  the  spirit  of 
the  great  military  leaders,  resulting  in  a  coldness  and  even  estrange- 
ment between  Napoleon  and  his  older  officers.  But,  as  Seeley 
points  out :  "  To  desert  Napoleon  at  that  moment  was  indeed  im- 
possible to  France,  for  no  other  government  could  be  thought  of 
and  he  alone  could  be  expected  to  save  the  nation  in  a  danger  he 
himself  had  brought  on  it."  Seeley  goes  on  to  say  that  Napoleon's 
resources  were  still  great,  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  did  not 
dissolve,  nor  for  some  time  was  there  even  a  defection  from  it,  and 
that  "  the  defection  of  Austria  from  his  cause  did  not  take  place 
until  a  later  time  when  all  the  circumstances  were  altered." 

The  unique  position  of  Prussia  at  this  moment  is  to  be  noticed, 
for  owing  to  the  exhaustion  of  Russia  and  the  silence  of  Austria, 
Prussia  was  in  a  position  to  dictate.  "Commanding  some  18,000 
Prussian  troops  in  excellent  condition,  he  [Yorck]  was  really  in  a 
manner  the  arbiter  of  the  situation."  ^  The  great  fact  in  favor  of 
Prussia,  however,  was  that  her  government  had  been  completely 
reorganized  since  Tilsit,  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  two  men : 
Stein,  who  was  born  in  Nassau,  but  had  been  in  the  Prussian  civil 
service  since  1780,  and  in  1804  became  minister  of  finance;  Scharn- 
horst,  who  had  formerly  been  an  officer  in  the  Hanoverian  army,  but 
in  1 80 1  became  a  lieutenant  colonel  in  Prussia  and  through  whose 
agency  the  army  was  thoroughly  reorganized.  The  work  done  by 
these  two  great  men  in  Prussia  was  precisely  that  which  the  revo- 
lution had  accomplished  in  France  and  in  the  states  of  southern 
Germany.  The  judicial  and  financial  administrations  were  reor- 
ganized and  brought  up  to  date.  Serfdom  was  abolished,  industry 
and  commerce  liberated,  and  the  army  put  upon  a  tlioroughly 
modern  basis.  Universal  military  service  was  adopted  and  promo- 
tion was  made  according  to  merit.  But  the  regeneration  of  Prussia 
was  more  than  a  material  improvement.  The  deep  moral  nature 
of  the  people  of  nortli  Germany  was  wakened  to  a  patriotic  fervor 
by  the  utterances  of  Fichte  and  Schleiermacher,  the  poetry  of 
Arndt  and  Korner,  while  even  the  scientific  labors  of  the  great 
scholars,  Humboldt  and  Niebuhr,  wakened  enthusiasm.  It  is  not 
a  mere  accident  that  the  founding  of  the  University  of  Berlin 
(1810)  coincides  with  the  birth  of  the  German  spirit  of  liberation. 

The  cabinet  of  Berlin  began  the  defections.     On    March    i, 

8  Seeley,  "  Life  of  Stein,"  vol.  TIT.  p.  26. 


488  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1813 

1813,  it  joined  Russia  and  England,  which  were  forming  the  sixth 
coalition.  Sweden  acceded  to  it  soon  after;  yet  the  emperor, 
whom  the  confederate  powers  thought  prostrated  by  the  last  dis- 
aster, opened  the  campaign  with  new  victories.  The  battle  of 
Lutzen,  won  by  conscripts  on  May  2,  the  occupation  of  Dresden, 
the  victory  of  Bautzen,  May  20-21,  and  the  war  carried  to  the 
Elbe,  astonished  the  coalition.  Austria,  which  since  1810  had  been 
on  a  footing  of  peace,  was  resuming  arms  and  already  meditating 
a  change  of  alliance.  She  now  proposed  herself  as  mediatrix  be- 
tween the  emperor  and  the  confederates.  Her  mediation  was 
accepted ;  an  armistice  was  concluded  at  Plesswitz  on  June  4,  and  a 
congress  assembled  at  Prague  July  21  to  negotiate  peace.  It  was 
impossible  to  come  to  terms.  Napoleon  would  not  consent  to  di- 
minished grandeur;  Europe  would  not  consent  to  remain  subject 
to  him.  The  confederate  pov\7ers,  joined  by  Austria,  required  that 
the  limits  of  the  empire  should  be  to  the  Rhine,  the  Alps,  and  the 
Meuse.  The  negotiators  separated  without  coming  to  an  agree- 
ment. Austria  joined  the  coalition  June  2"],  and  war,  the  only 
means  of  settling  this  great  contest,  was  resumed. 

The  emperor  had  only  280,000  men  against  520,000;  he 
wished  to  force  the  enemy  to  retire  behind  the  Elbe,  and  to  break 
up,  as  usual,  this  new  coalition  by  the  promptitude  and  vigor  of  his 
blows.  Victory  seemed,  at  first,  to  second  him.  At  Dresden, 
August  26-27,  ^ic  defeated  the  combined  forces;  but  the  defeats  of 
his  lieutenants  deranged  his  plans.  Macdonald  was  conquered  in 
Silesia ;  Ney  near  Berlin ;  Vandamme  at  Kulm.  Unable  to  obstruct 
the  enemy,  pouring  on  him  from  all  parts.  Napoleon  thought  of 
retreating.  The  princes  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  chose 
this  moment  to  desert  the  cause  of  the  empire.  A  vast  engagement 
took  place  around  Leipsic  between  the  two  armies.  Leipsic  was 
the  center  of  the  struggle,  but  the  battlefield  included  the  whole 
surrounding  country.  It  was  fought  during  five  days  (October 
14-19,  1813).  The  retreat  of  the  French  was  made  more  dis- 
astrous because  of  the  error  of  a  French  subaltern  who  blew  up 
the  wrong-  bridge  over  the  river.  The  carnage  of  these  days  was 
terrible.  The  French  lost  over  50,000  killed,  wounded,  and  pris- 
oners; the  allies  lost  even  more.  The  Saxons  and  Wurtembergers 
passed  over  to  the  enemy  on  the  field  of  battle.  This  defection  to 
the  strength  of  the  coalesced  powers,  who  had  learned  a  more  com- 
pact and  skillful  mode  of  warfare,  obliged    Napoleon    to    retreat 


THE     EiNIPIRE 


489 


1813 

after  a  strug-gle  of  three  days.  The  army  advanced  with  much 
confusion  toward  the  Rhine,  where  the  Bavarians,  who  had  also 
deserted,  attempted  to  prevent  its  passage.  But  it  overwhelmed 
them  at  Hanau,  and  reentered  the  territory  of  the  empire  on  Oc- 
tober 30,  1813.  The  close  of  this  campaign  was  as  disastrous  as 
that  of  the  preceding  one.  France  was  threatened  in  its  own  limits, 
as  it  had  been  in  1799;  but  the    enthusiasm    of    independence  no 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  I8I5-IB15 


l(jii<4er  existed,  and  the  mrin  who  deprived  it  of  its  rights  found  it, 
at  this  great  crisis,  incapable  of  sustaining  him  or  defending  itself. 
The  ser\itude  of  nations  is,  sooner  or  later,  e\-er  avenged. 

Xapoleon  returned  to  Paris  on  Xovemlxjr  9,  18 13.  He  ob- 
tained fruni  the  senate  a  lc\y  of  300,000  men,  and  made  with  great 
ardor  prcjiarations  f()r  a  new  campaign.  He  convoked  the  legis- 
lali\e  bi)(lv  to  associate  it  in  the  common  defense;  he  ccjmmuni- 
cated  t(j  it  the  documents  relative  to  the  negotiations  of  Prague, 


490  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1814 

and  asked  for  another  and  last  effort  in  order  to  secure  a  glorious 
peace,  the  general  wish  of  France.  But  the  legislative  body, 
hitherto  silently  obedient,  chose  this  period  to  resist  Napoleon. 

He  shared  the  common  exhaustion,  and  without  desiring  it, 
was  under  the  influence  of  the  royalist  party,  which  had  been 
secretly  agitating  ever  since  the  decline  of  the  empire  had  revived 
its  hopes.  A  commission,  composed  of  Laine,  Raynouard,  Gallois, 
Flaugergues,  Maine  de  Biran,  drew  up  a  very  hostile  report 
censuring  the  course  adopted  by  the  government,  and  demand- 
ing that  all  conquests  should  be  given  up,  and  liberty  restored. 
This  wish,  so  just  at  any  other  time,  could  then  only  favor  the 
invasion  of  the  foe.  Though  the  confederate  powers  seemed  to 
make  the  evacuation  of  Europe  the  condition  of  peace,  they  were 
disposed  to  push  victory  to  extremity.  Napoleon,  irritated  by  this 
unexpiected  and  harassing  opposition,  suddenly  dismissed  the  legis- 
lative body.  This  commencement  of  resistance  announced  internal 
defections.  After  passing  from  Russia  to  Germany,  they  were 
about  to  extend  from  Germany  and  Italy  to  France.  But  now,  as 
before,  all  depended  on  the  issue  of  the  war,  which  the  winter  had 
not  interrupted.  Napoleon  placed  all  his  hopes  on  it,  and  started 
from  Paris  on  January  25  for  this  immortal  campaign. 

The  empire  was  invaded  in  all  directions.  The  Austrians 
entered  Italy;  the  English,  having  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
peninsula  during  the  last  two  years,  had  passed  the  Bidassoa,  under 
General  Wellington,  and  appeared  on  the  Pyrenees.  Three  armies 
pressed  on  France  to  the  east  and  north.  The  great  allied  army, 
amounting  to  150,000  men,  under  Schwartzenberg,  advanced  by 
Switzerland ;  the  army  of  Silesia  of  130,000,  under  Bliicher,  by 
Frankfort;  and  that  of  the  north,  of  100,000,  under  Bernadotte, 
had  seized  on  Holland  and  entered  Belgium.  The  enemies,  in  their 
turn,  neglected  the  fortified  places,  and  taking  a  lesson  from  the 
conqueror,  advanced  on  the  capital.  When  Napoleon  left  Paris 
the  two  armies  of  Schwartzenberg  and  Bliicher  were  on  the  point 
of  effecting  a  junction  in  Champagne.  Deprived  of  the  support 
of  the  people,  who  were  only  lookers  on.  Napoleon  was  left  alone 
against  the  whole  world  with  a  handful  of  veterans  and  his  genius, 
which  had  lost  nothing  of  its  daring  and  vigor.  At  this  moment 
he  stands  out  nobly,  no  longer  an  oppressor,  no  longer  a  conqueror, 
but  defending,  inch  by  inch,  with  new  victories,  the  soil  of  his 
country,  and  at  the  same  time,  his  empire  and  renown. 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  491 

1814 

He  marched  into  Champagne  against  the  two  great  hostile 
armies.  General  Maison  was  charged  to  intercept  Bernadotte  in 
Belgium ;  Augereau,  the  Austrians,  at  Lyons ;  Soiilt,  the  English, 
on  the  Spanish  frontier.  Prince  Eugene  was  to  defend  Italy;  and 
the  empire,  though  penetrated  to  the  very  center,  still  stretched  its 
vast  arms  into  the  depths  of  Germany  by  its  garrisons  beyond  the 
Rhine.  Napoleon  did  not  despair  of  driving  these  swarms  of  foes 
from  the  territory  of  France  by  means  of  a  powerful  military  reac- 
tion, and  again  planting  his  standards  in  the  countries  of  the 
enemy.  He  placed  himself  skillfully  between  I^liicher,  who  was 
descending  the  Marne,  and  Schwartzenberg,  who  descended  the 
Seine;  he  hastened  from  one  of  these  armies  to  the  other,  and  de- 
feated them  alternately  (February  lo,  1814).  The  Russian  divi- 
sion under  Olssouviev  was  beaten  at  Champ-Aubert,  February  10, 
1814;  the  Prussian  Field  Marshal  Yorck  was  repulsed  at  Chateau 
Thierry,  February  12;  and  Bliicher  at  Vauchamps,  February  13. 
In  six  days  the  army  of  Silesia  lost  40,000  men  and  100  cannon. 
When  his  army  was  destroyed  Napoleon  returned  to  the  Seine,  de- 
feated the  Austrians  at  ]\Iontereau,  February  18,  and  drove  them 
before  him.  His  combinations  were  so  strong,  his  activity  so 
great,  his  measures  so  sure,  that  lie  seemed  on  the  point  of  entirely 
disorganizing  tliese  two  formidable  armies,  and  with  them  anni- 
hilating the  coalition. 

Napoleon's  military  genius  probably  never  was  more  conspic- 
uous than  just  at  this  time.  Three  great  armies  were  advancing 
upon  Paris,  and  Napoleon  had  only  the  remnants  of  the  army  of 
Germany  to  oi)pose  them,  hardly  70,000  men.  His  best  troops 
were  far  from  the  scene,  or  outside  of  France  entirely.  More  than 
100,000  were  in  Spain  under  Soult  and  Suchet ;  40,000  were  in 
Italy  under  Eugene,  and  120,000  were  scattered  in  various  cities 
throughout  Germany,  notably  at  Hamburg,  Dresden,  Stettin,  and 
Dantzig.  It  is  notliing  short  of  marvelous  that  the  emperor  was 
able  not  merely  to  prevent  his  enemies  from  uniting  their  forces, 
but  actually  to  defeat  tliem.  Under  these  blows  the  allies  wavered 
at  Cliatillon  and  offered  Napoleon  the  possession  of  France  with 
the  boundaries  of  1792,  but  the  emperor  refused  the  terms. 

But  if  he  conquered  wherever  he  came,  the  foe  triumplied 
wherever  he  was  not.  Tlie  English  had  entered  Bordeaux,  where 
a  party  had  declared  for  the  Bourbon  family;  the  Austrians  occu- 
pied Lyons;  the  Belgian  army  had  joined  the  remnant  of  that  of 


492  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1814 

Bliichcr,  which  reappeared  on  Napoleon's  rear.  Defection  now 
entered  his  own  family,  and  Murat  had  just  followed,  in  Italy,  the 
example  of  Bernadotte,  by  joining  the  coalition.  The  grand  offi- 
cers of  the  empire  still  served  him,  but  languidly,  and  he  only  found 
ardor  and  fidelity  in  his  subaltern  generals  and  indefatigable  sol- 
diers. Napoleon  had  again  marched  on  Bliicher,  who  had  escaped 
from  him  thrice :  on  the  left  of  the  Marne,  by  a  sudden  frost,  which 
hardened  the  muddy  ways  among  which  the  Prussians  had  involved 
themselves,  and  were  in  danger  of  perishing;  on  the  Aisne,  through 
the  defection  of  Soissons,  which  opened  a  passage  to  them,  at  a 
moment  when  they  had  no  other  way  of  escape;  at  Craonne 
(March  7),  by  the  fault  of  the  Duke  of  Ragusa,  who  prevented  a 
decisive  battle  by  suffering  himself  to  be  surprised  by  night.  After 
so  many  fatalities,  which  frustrated  the  surest  plans,  Napoleon,  ill 
sustained  by  his  generals,  surrounded  by  the  coalition,  conceived 
the  bold  design  of  transporting  himself  to  Saint  Dizier,  on  the 
Marne  River,  and  then  to  crush  his  enemies  between  his  own  army 
and  Paris.  But  the  faint-heartedness  of  Joseph  Bonaparte  and  Mar- 
mont,  upon  whom  the  safety  of  Paris  rested,  ruined  his  project.  It 
is  true  that  the  position  of  Paris  was  little  short  of  desperate,  but 
it  was  a  sort  of  desperation  out  of  which  Napoleon  might  have 
snatched  victory.  This  daring  march,  so  full  of  genius,  startled 
for  a  moment  the  confederate  generals,  from  whom  it  cut  off  all 
retreat;  but,  excited  by  secret  encouragements,  without  being  anx- 
ious for  their  rear,  they  advanced  on  Paris. 

This  great  city,  the  only  capital  of  Europe  which  had  not  been 
the  theater  of  war,  suddenly  saw  all  the  troops  of  Europe  enter  its 
plains,  and  was  on  the  point  of  undergoing  the  common  humilia- 
tion. It  was  left  to  itself.  The  empress,  appointed  regent  a  few 
months  before,  had  just  left  it  to  repair  to  Blois.  Napoleon  was  at 
a  distance.  There  w^as  not  that  despair  and  that  movement  of 
liberty  which  drive  a  people  to  resistance;  war  was  no  longer  made 
on  nations,  but  on  governments,  and  the  emperor  had  centered  all 
the  public  interest  in  himself,  and  placed  all  his  means  of  defense  in 
mechanical  troops.  The  exhaustion  was  great ;  a  feeling  of  pride, 
of  very  just  pride,  alone  made  the  approach  of  the  stranger  painful, 
and  oppressed  every  Frenchman's  heart  at  seeing  his  native  land 
trodden  by  armies  so  long  vanquished.  But  this  sentiment  w-as  not 
sufficiently  strong  to  raise  the  masses  of  the  population  against  the 
enemy;  and  the  measures  of  the  royalist  party,  at  the  head  of  which 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  493 

1814 

the  Prince  of  Benevento  placed  himself,  called  the  allied  troops 
to  the  capital.  An  action  took  place,  however,  on  March  30,  under 
the  walls  of  Paris;  but  on  the  31st  the  gates  were  opened  to  the 
confederate  forces,  who  entered  in  pursuance  of  a  capitulation. 
The  senate  consummated  the  great  imperial  defection  by  forsaking 
its  old  master;  it  was  influenced  by  Talleyrand,  who  for  some 
time  had  been  out  of  favor  with  Napoleon.  This  voluntary  actor 
in  every  crisis  of  power  had  just  declared  against  him.  With  no 
attachment  to  party,  of  a  profound  political  indifference,  he  foresaw 
from  a  distance  with  wonderful  sagacity  the  fall  of  a  government; 
withdrew  from  it  opportunely;  and  when  the  precise  moment  for 
assailing  it  had  arrived,  joined  in  the  attack  with  all  his  talents,  his 
influence,  his  name,  and  his  authority,  which  he  had  taken  care  to 
preserve.  In  favor  of  the  revolution,  under  the  constituent  assem- 
bly; of  the  directory,  on  the  i8th  Fructidor;  for  the  consulate,  on 
the  i8th  Brumaire;  for  the  empire,  in  1804,  he  was  for  the  restora- 
tion of  tlie  royal  family  in  1814;  he  seemed  grand  master  of  the 
ceremonies  for  the  party  in  power,  and  for  the  last  thirty  years  it 
was  he  who  had  dismissed  and  installed  the  successive  govern- 
ments. The  senate,  influenced  by  him,  appointed  a  provisional 
government,  and  declared  Xapoleon  deposed  from  his  throne,  the 
hereditary  riglUs  of  his  family  abolished,  the  people  and  army  freed 
from  their  oatli  of  fidelity.  It  proclaimed  him  tyrant  whose  des- 
potism it  had  facilitated  by  its  adulation.  Meantime,  Napoleon, 
urged  by  those  about  him  to  succor  the  capital,  had  abandoned  his 
march  on  Saint  Dizier,  and  hastened  to  Paris  at  the  head  of  50,000 
men,  in  tlie  hope  of  preventing  the  entry  of  the  enemy.  On  his 
arrival  (  April  i )  he  heard  of  the  capitulation  of  the  preceding  day, 
and  fell  back  on  I'ontainebleau,  where  he  learned  the  defection  of  the 
senate  and  his  (leposili(jn.  Then  finding  that  all  gave  way  around 
him  in  his  ill  fortune,  the  people,  the  senate,  generals  and  courtiers, 
he  decided  on  abdicating  in  favor  of  his  son.  He  sent  Caulain- 
court,  }tlarshal  Xey,  and  ^Marshal  Macdonald  as  plenipotentiaries 
to  the  confederates ;  on  their  way  they  were  to  take  with  them 
jXIarmont,  who  covered  Fontainebleau  with  a  corps. 

Xapoleon,  with  his  fifty  thousand  men  and  strong  military 
position,  could  yet  oblige  the  coalition  to  admit  the  claim  of  his 
son.  But  the  Duke  of  Ixagusa  forsook  his  post,  treated  with  the 
enemy,  and  left  lv)ntainebleau  exposed.  X^apoleon  was  then  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  conditions  of  the  allied  powers;  their  pretensions 


494  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1814 

increased  with  their  power.  At  Prague  they  ceded  to  him  the  em- 
pire, with  the  Alps  and  the  Rhine  for  Hmits ;  after  the  invasion  of 
France,  they  offered  him  at  Chatillon  the  possessions  of  the  old 
monarchy  only;  later  they  refused  to  treat  with  him  except  in 
favor  of  his  son;  but  now,  determined  on  destroying  all  that  re- 
mained of  the  revolution  with  respect  to  Europe,  its  conquest  and 
dynasty,  they  compelled  Napoleon  to  abdicate  absolutely.  On 
April  I,  1814,  he  renounced  for  himself  and  children  the  thrones 
of  France  and  Italy,  and  received  in  exchange  for  his  vast  sov- 
ereignty, the  limits  of  which  had  extended  from  Cadiz  to  the  Baltic 
Sea,  the  little  Island  of  Elba,  On  the  20th,  after  an  affecting  fare- 
well to  his  old  soldiers,  he  departed  for  his  new  principality. 

Thus  fell  this  man,  who  alone,  for  fourteen  years,  had  filled 
the  world.  His  enterprising  and  organizing  genius,  his  power  of 
life  and  will,  his  love  of  glory,  and  the  immense  disposable  force 
which  the  revolution  placed  in  his  hands,  have  made  him  the  most 
gigantic  being  of  modern  times.  That  which  would  have  rendered 
the  destiny  of  another  extraordinary,  scarcely  counts  in  his.  Rising 
from  an  obscure  to  the  highest  rank ;  from  a  simple  artillery  officer 
becoming  the  chief  of  the  greatest  of  nations,  he  dared  to  conceive 
the  idea  of  universal  monarchy,  and  for  a  moment  realized  it. 
After  having  obtained  the  empire  by  his  victories,  he  wished  to 
subdue  Europe  by  means  of  France,  and  reduce  England  by  means 
of  Europe,  and  he  established  the  military  system  against  the  Con- 
tinent, the  blockade  against  Great  Britain.  This  design  succeeded 
for  some  years ;  from  Lisbon  to  Moscow  he  subjected  people  and 
potentates  to  his  word  of  command  as  general,  and  to  the  vast 
sequestration  which  he  prescribed.  But  in  this  way  he  failed  in 
discharging  his  restorative  mission  of  the  i8th  Brumaire.  By 
exercising  on  his  own  account  the  power  he  had  received,  by  attack- 
ing the  liberty  of  the  people  by  despotic  institutions,  the  independ- 
ence of  states  by  war,  he  excited  against  himself  the  opinions  and 
interests  of  the  human  race ;  he  provoked  universal  hostility.  The 
nation  forsook  him,  and  after  having  been  long  victorious,  after 
having  planted  his  standard  on  every  capital,  after  having  during 
ten  years  augmented  his  power,  and  gained  a  kingdom  with  every 
battle,  a  single  reverse  combined  the  world  against  him,  proving  by 
his  fall  how  impossible  in  our  days  is  despotism. 

Yet  Napoleon,  amid  all  the  disastrous  results  of  his  system, 
gave  a  prodigious  impulse  to  the  Continent;  his  armies  carried  witfc 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  495 

1814 

them  the  ideas  and  customs  of  the  more  advanced  civilization  of 
France.  European  societies  were  shaken  on  their  old  foundations ; 
nations  were  mingled  by  frequent  intercourse ;  bridges  thrown 
across  boundary  rivers;  high  roads  made  over  the  Alps,  Apennines, 
and  Pyrenees  brought  territories  nearer  to  each  other;  and  Napo- 
leon effected  for  the  material  condition  of  states  what  the  revolu- 
tion had  done  for  the  minds  of  men.  The  blockade  completed  the 
impulse  of  conquest;  it  improved  continental  industry,  enabling  it 
to  take  the  place  of  that  of  England,  and  replaced  colonial  com- 
merce by  the  produce  of  manufactures.  Thus  Napoleon,  by  agi- 
tating nations,  contributed  to  their  civilization.  His  despotism 
rendered  him  counter-revolutionary  with  respect  to  France;  but  his 
spirit  of  conquest  made  him  a  regenerator  with  respect  to  Europe, 
of  which  many  nations,  in  torpor  till  he  came,  will  live  henceforth 
with  the  life  he  gave  them.  But  in  this  Napoleon  obeyed  the  dic- 
tates of  his  nature.  Tlie  child  of  war — -war  was  his  tendency,  his 
pleasure;  domination  his  object;  he  wanted  to  master  the  world, 
and  circumstances  placed  it  in  his  hand,  in  order  that  he  might 
make  use  of  it. 

Napoleon  has  presented  in  France  what  Cromwell  presented 
for  a  moment  in  England ;  the  government  of  the  army,  which 
always  establishes  itself  when  a  revolution  is  contended  against;  it 
then  gradually  changes,  and  from  being  civil,  as  it  was  at  first, 
becomes  military.  In  Great  Britain,  internal  war  not  being  com- 
plicated with  foreign  war,  on  account  of  the  geographical  situ- 
ation of  the  country,  which  isolated  it  from  other  states,  as  soon 
as  the  enemies  of  reform  were  vanquislied,  the  army  passed  from 
tlie  field  of  battle  to  the  government.  Its  intervention  being  pre- 
mature, Cromwell,  its  general,  found  parties  still  in  the  fury  of 
their  passions,  in  all  the  fanaticism  of  their  opinions,  and  he 
directed  against  them  alone  his  military  administration.  The 
French  Revolution  taking  place  on  the  Continent  saw  the  nations 
disposed  for  liberty,  and  sovereigns  leagued  from  a  fear  of  tlie  lib- 
eration of  their  people.  It  had  not  only  internal  enemies,  but  also 
foreign  enemies  to  contend  with ;  and  vv'hile  its  armies  were  repel- 
ling Europe,  parties  were  overthrowing  each  other  in  the  assemblies. 
The  military  intervention  came  later;  Napoleon,  finding  factions 
defeated  and  opinions  almost  forsaken,  obtained  obedience  easily 
from  the  nation,  and  turned  the  military  government  against 
Europe. 


496  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1814 

This  difference  of  position  materially  influenced  the  conduct 
and  character  of  these  two  extraordinary  men.  Napoleon,  dis- 
posing of  immense  force  and  of  uncontested  power,  gave  himself 
up  in  security  to  the  vast  designs  and  the  part  of  a  conqueror. 
While  Cromwell,  deprived  of  the  assent  which  popular  exhaustion 
accords,  incessantly  attacked  by  factions,  was  reduced  to  neutralize 
them  one  by  the  other,  and  was  to  the  last  the  military  dictator  of 
parties.  The  one  employed  his  genius  in  undertaking ;  the  other  in 
resisting.  Accordingly,  the  former  had  the  frankness  and  decision 
of  power;  the  other,  the  craft  and  hypocrisy  of  opposed  ambition. 
This  situation  would  destroy  their  sway.  All  dictatorships  are 
transient ;  and  however  strong  or  great,  it  is  impossible  for  anyone 
long  to  subject  parties  or  long  to  retain  kingdoms.  It  is  this  that, 
sooner  or  later,  would  have  led  to  the  fall  of  Cromwell  (had  he  lived 
longer),  by  internal  conspiracies;''  and  that  brought  on  the  down- 
fall of  Napoleon,  by  the  rising  of  Europe.  Such  is  the  fate  of  all 
powers  which,  arising  from  liberty,  do  not  continue  to  abide  with 
her.  In  1814  the  empire  had  just  been  destroyed;  the  revolutionary 
parties  had  ceased  to  exist  since  the  i8th  Brumaire.  All  the  gov- 
ernments of  this  political  period  had  been  exhausted.  The  senate 
recalled  the  old  royal  family.  Already  unpopular  on  account  of 
its  past  servility,  it  ruined  itself  in  public  opinion  by  publishing  a 
constitution,  tolerably  liberal,  but  which  placed  on  the  same  footing 
the  pensions  of  senators  and  the  guarantees  of  the  nation.  The 
Count  d'Artois,  who  had  been  the  first  to  leave  France,  was  the  first 
to  return,  in  the  character  of  lieutenant  general  of  the  kingdom. 
He  signed,  on  April  23,  the  convention  of  Paris,  which  reduced  the 
French  territory  to  its  limits  of  January  i,  1792,  and  by  which 
Belgium,  Savoy,  Nice,  and  Geneva,  and  immense  military  stores 
ceased  to  belong  to  France.  Louis  XVIII,  landed  at  Calais  on  April 
24,  and  entered  Paris  with  solemnity  on  May  3,  18 14,  after  having 
on  the  2d  made  the  declaration  of  Saint  Omar,  which  fixed  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  representative  government,  and  which  was  followed  on 
June  2  by  the  promulgation  of  the  charter. 

At  this  epoch  a  new  series  of  events  begins.  The  year  18 14 
was  the  term  of  the  great  movement  of  the  preceding  twenty-five 

"  This  estimate  of  Cromwell  preserves  the  eighteenth  century  tradition  of 
him.  Carlyle's  "  Cromwell's  Letters,"  Gardiner's  "  England  under  the  Common- 
wealth and  Protectorate,"  and  Firth's  "  Oliver  Cromwell,"  have  proved  the 
true  moral  as  well  as  political  and  military  greatness  of  the  Protector. 


T  H  E     E  M  P  I  R  E  497 

1814 

years.  The  revolution  had  been  political,  as  directed  against  the 
absolute  power  of  the  court  and  the  privileged  classes,  and  military, 
because  Europe  had  attacked  it.  The  reaction  which  arose  at  that 
time  only  destroyed  the  empire,  and  brought  about  the  coalition  in 
Europe,  and  the  representative  system  in  France;  such  was  to  be 
its  first  period.  Later,  it  opposed  the  revolution,  and  produced  the 
Holy  Alliance  against  the  people,  and  the  government  of  a  party 
against  the  charter.  This  retrograde  movement  necessarily  had  its 
course  and  limits.  France  can  only  be  ruled  in  a  durable  manner 
by  satisfying  the  twofold  need  which  made  it  undertake  the  revo- 
lution. It  requires  real  political  liberty  in  the  government;  and 
in  society,  the  material  prosperity  produced  by  the  continually 
progressing  development  of  civilization. 


Chapter    XIX 

THE    HUNDRED    DAYS.     MARCH-JUNE.    1815 

THE  measures  which  residted  in  the  elevation  of  Louis 
XVHI.  to  the  throne  of  France  were  taken  by  the  alhecl 
governments  during  the  months  of  April  and  May,  18 14. 
They  were  all  agreed  as  to  the  deposition  of  Napoleon,  but  divided 
as  to  the  policy  to  be  pursued.  To  give  the  crown  to  the  King  of 
Rome  under  the  regency  of  his  mother,  Marie  Louise,  would  have 
given  Austria  too  great  an  ascendency ;  Alexander  wanted  Berna- 
dotte,  formerly  one  of  Napoleon's  marshals,  and  now  King  of  Swe- 
den, to  be  made  king,  and  had  proposed  such  a  plan  even  before  Na- 
poleon's fall,  in  January.  But  no  one  else  took  kindly  to  the  sug- 
gestion, and  the  Bourbons  alone  remained  to  be  considered.  But 
the  voice  of  the  French  nation  was  silent,  and  the  powers  had  re- 
solved not  to  impose  a  government  upon  France — at  least  not  in 
appearance.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  organize  a  movement 
that  would  have,  at  any  rate,  the  semblance  of  natural  feeling  in 
favor  of  the  Bourbons.  Talleyrand  and  Metternich  undertook  the 
delicate  task.  On  March  31,  when  the  allies  made  their  entrance  into 
Paris,  shouts  of  "  vive  le  roi! " — the  voices  of  some  carefully  se- 
lected agents  of  Talleyrand — began  the  "  demonstration  "  in  favor 
of  the  exiled  dynasty.  Already  the  senators  had  been  provided  for, 
through  the  foresight  of  Talleyrand,  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  The 
senate  had  hastily  compiled  a  constitution,  the  purpose  of  which  was 
to  save  the  senators,  deputies,  and  other  governmental  officials  from 
the  anger  of  the  powers,  assure  peaceable  enjoyment  of  their  prop- 
erty to  purchasers  of  the  national  domain,  and  pacify  the  fears  of 
the  government's  creditors.  Talleyrand  quieted  the  anxiety  and 
at  the  same  time  purchased  the  support  of  the  senate  by  protecting 
it.  The  senators  became  peers  under  the  restoration,  and  all 
officials  of  the  imperial  regime  held  over,  Li  return  the  senate, 
on  April  6,  by  a  vote  of  142  to  62,,  and  the  chamber  by  one  of  143 
to  yy,  declared  that  "  the  French  people  freely  calls  Louis  of  France, 
brother  of  the  late  king,  to  the  throne."      But  Louis  XYHL,  in 

498 


THE     HUNDRED     DAYS  499 

1814 

order  to  save  his  sovereignty,  rejected  the  proposed  constitution,  so 
far  as  recognizing  the  right  of  the  senate  in  the  matter  was  con- 
cerned, ahhough  he  accepted  it  in  form  and  ordained  it  as  a 
measure  emanating  from  his  own  authority.  Thus  was  the  charter 
put  into  operation.  On  April  23  the  alhes  signed  an  armistice  with 
the  Count  d'Artois,  the  sole  provision  of  which  was  that  France 
renounced  every  conquest  made  since  1792. 

The  definitive  treaty  of  peace  remained  to  be  made.  The 
negotiations  were  delayed  by  the  v/ish  of  the  Russian  emperor  to 
exile  Napoleon  to  Elba.  By  the  terms  agreed  upon  France  re- 
turned to  the  boundaries  it  had  possessed  in  1792,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Savoy,  Sarrelouis,  and  Landau ;  the  Isle  of  France,  Tabago, 
and  Sainte-Lucia  were  ceded  to  England;  no  war  indemnity  was 
demanded  by  the  powers,  but  Prussia  for  a  time  insisted  upon  com- 
pensation for  the  mone3^s  Napoleon  had  wrung  from  them.  The 
treaty  was  signed  on  May  30,  18 14. 

The  skill  of  Talleyrand  had  saved  France  from  being  penalized 
to  a  greater  degree  by  victorious  Europe.  Meanwhile,  bitter  antag- 
onism had  developed  among  the  powers.  The  great  difficulty  was 
with  reference  to  Poland  and  Saxony.  Russia  and  Prussia  wanted 
to  let  Alexander  have  Poland,  and  to  give  Saxony  to  Prussia,  in- 
demnifying the  Saxon  king  by  a  gift  of  territory  upon  the  Rhine; 
but  Austria  opposed  the  plan,  for  fear  Prussia  would  become  too 
strong  in  Germany,  and  England  was  unwilling  to  see  the  czar  estab- 
lish his  power  so  firmly  in  central  Europe.  Accordingly  Russia  and 
Prussia  made  common  cause  together,  and  Austria  and  England 
united  policies.  Tallcvrand  profited  by  the  dissension  to  group  the 
minor  states  around  him  and  invoked  the  principle  of  "  legitimacy  " 
— the  policy  of  restoring  tilings  to  the  status  of  1789.  While  this 
policy  was  hard  on  the  little  states,  for  it  united  Belgium  to  Hol- 
land, Schleswig-Holstein  to  Denmark,  and  reestablished  Austrian 
Lombardy,  it  saved  France  from  greater  humiliation. 

The  work  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna  was  not  completed  when 
Napoleon  returned  to  France.  The  new  order  of  things  in  France 
had  been  far  from  pleasing  to  tlie  people.  It  is  true  that  the 
country  was  tired  of  war  and  of  Bonaparte's  arbitrary  government. 
But  Louis  XVTII.  had  stirred  up  the  resentment  of  the  people : 
to  pretend  that  he  was  king  by  the  grace  of  God  when,  as  was  wit- 
tily said,  "  he  had  been  brought  back  in  the  baggage  of  the  allies," 
and  to  talk  about  "  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  our  reign  "  was  an 


500 


THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 


1815 

offensive  affectation.  There  were  lesser  grievances  also:  the 
abolition  of  the  tricolor  and  the  return  of  the  white  cockade;  the 
reduction  of  the  officers  to  half-pay;  the  octroi. 

Napoleon  profited  by  the  discontent,  and  aided  by  Fouche, 
who  formed  an  imperialist  party,  he  returned  to  France.  Avoid- 
ing the  royalist  region  of  the  Rhone  valley,  he  came  straight  to 
Paris.      The  peasantry,  the  liberals,  the  imperials  flocked  to  his 


standards.  Marshal  Ney,  whom  the  government  sent  to  arrest 
him,  yielded  to  the  influence  of  his  old  chief  over  him.  Meanwhile 
the  Congress  of  Vienna,  having  outlawed  Napoleon  by  a  joint 
declaration  on  March  13,  181 5,  hastened  to  conclude  its  labors. 
The  pen  of  the  diplomat  was  laid  aside  for  the  sword  of  the 
soldier. 

In  Paris  Napoleon  made  herculean  preparations  for  conflict. 
Most  of  the  old  marshals,  Macdonald,  for  example,  had  refused  to 


THE     HUNDRED     DAYS  501 

1815 

take  up  arms  again.  Only  Ney,  Soult,  Suchet,  Brune,  and  Davout 
espoused  his  cause.  Marmont  accepted  a  command  against  the 
emperor.  Aiming  to  prevent  England  from  supporting  the  other 
allies,  Napoleon  took  the  offensive  and  crossed  the  Sambre  at 
Charleroi  with  128,000  men.  The  allied  army  numbered  about 
200,000,  that  of  Austria  operating  in  Italy  against  Murat,  Na- 
poleon's plan  was  to  attack  his  enemies  separately,  and  prevent  the 
union  of  the  English  and  the  Prussians.  The  battle  of  Waterloo 
was  really  several  separate  engagements.  On  June  i6th  the  French, 
after  a  furious  fight  at  Ligny,  near  Fleurus,  put  the  Prussian  army 
under  Bliicher  to  rout.  Then  ordering  Grouchy  to  pursue  the  Prus- 
sians in  the  direction  of  Namur,  the  emperor  himself  turned  against 
the  English  coming  from  Brussels.  Ney,  with  a  slight  number  of 
troops  at  his  disposal,  on  this  first  day  had  been  unable  to  stop 
the  English  progress,  a  misfortune  which  was  aggravated  by  a 
false  maneuver,  which  left  a  whole  army  corps,  under  Drouet 
d'Erlon,  inactive  between  the  two  armies.  In  consequence  the 
English  penetrated  as  far  as  Waterloo,  where  they  entrenched 
themselves  upon  the  plateau  of  j\Iont  St.  Jean  (June  18).  About 
70,000  men  on  each  side,  of  whom  15,000  were  cavalry,  were 
pitted  against  each  other  on  this  famous  day.  Napoleon  planned 
to  take  the  English  advance  position,  and  then  to  crush  their  left 
wing,  in  order  to  cripple  the  side  of  the  army  nearest  to  the  Prus- 
sians. But  the  rain  had  fallen  in  torrents  during  the  night,  and 
owing  to  the  mud  the  French  could  not  begin  the  battle  until 
nearly  noon.  The  loss  of  time  was  of  serious  consequence.  The 
English,  at  first  overwhelmed  by  the  heavy  artillery  fire  from  the 
height  of  La  Belle  Alliance,  where  the  emperor  had  taken  up  his 
position,  were  driven  back  upon  Ilougoumont  by  the  infantry  of 
Reille  and  Drouet  d'Erlon.  But  on  the  summit  of  the  plateau  the 
English  made  a  heroic  and  successful  stand  against  the  furious 
charges  of  Xey's  cavalry.  Twice  the  English  cannon  were  taken 
and  their  lines  broken.  It  seemed  as  if  the  last  ounce  of  effort 
had  been  expended  on  either  side.  Napoleon  had  anxiously  sent 
courier  after  courier  ordering  Grouchy  to  come;  just  as  anxiously 
Wellington  watched  fur  Bliicher.  Late  in  the  day  a  new  cannon- 
ading was  heard  far  off  on  the  right.  Was  it  Grouchy  with  re- 
inforcements? or  was  it  Bliicher?  It  was  the  Prussian  generals 
Bliicher  and  Billow.  Grouchy  had  made  the  fatal  blunder  of 
attacking  a  Prussian  column  merely,  and  let  the  main  body  of  the 


502  THE     FRENCH     REVOLUTION 

1815 

Prussians,  more  than  60,000  men,  effect  a  junction  with  the  Eng- 
Hsh  forces.  For  a  while  the  brave  Lobau  had  delayed  Billow's 
advance  at  Wavre,  but  when  Bliicher's  column  also  came  the 
French  could  not  longer  hold  their  ground.  They  were  ex- 
hausted and  outnumbered;  brain  and  heart  and  hand  could  do  no 
more.  In  vain  Ney  cried  out  to  his  men :  "  Follow  me,  I  will 
show  you  how  a  marshal  of  France  can  die !  "  The  Old  Guard 
was  the  only  portion  of  the  French  army  that  stood  firm  in  the 
universal  rout,  the  only  group  whom  consternation,  despair,  and 
the  panic  of  defeat  did  not  overcome.  Even  if  the  famous  words 
"  the  Guard  dies  but  never  surrenders  "  were  not  said  until  after- 
ward, the  Guard  acted  in  the  spirit  of  the  utterance. 

The  day  of  Napoleon's  destiny  was  over;  the  star  of  Auster- 
litz  and  Wagram  had  declined  forever.  With  more  moderation 
he  might  have  made  his  conquest  permanent;  but  when  the  people 
of  Europe  realized  that  Napoleon's  heel  was  treading  down  the 
free  ideals  and  crushing  the  institutions  by  which  he  himself  had 
been  raised  to  power,  then  the  France  which  he  had  robbed  of 
liberty  and  the  Europe  which  he  had  despoiled  rose  against  him. 
Yet  the  mists  of  time  transfigure.  Not  all  the  learning  and  critical 
research  of  modern  scholarship  has  dispelled  the  illusion  that  has 
gathered  around  his  name.  The  words  of  Chateaubriand  are  still 
true:  "The  Bonaparte  which  we  see  to-day  is  not  the  true 
Bonaparte :  he  is  a  legendary  figure  formed  of  the  reveries  of  the 
poet,  the  tales  of  the  soldier,  and  the  songs  of  the  people.  He  is 
the  Charlemagne  and  the  Alexander  of  the  medieval  epoch.  The 
hero  of  the  imagination  will  remain  the  real  personage:  the  other 
portraits  will  vanish  away." 

For  the  second  time  France  was  crushed  under  the  tread  of 
invading  armies.  The  Hundred  Days  formed  but  an  episode  in  the 
history  of  Europe ;  but  it  had  serious  consequences  for  France.  For 
after  this  second  victory  of  the  allies  it  was  manifest  that  the  feel- 
ing of  the  powers  toward  France  had  hardened.  France  had  taken 
the  part  of  the  man  whom  Europe  had  outlawed  and  was  tliere- 
fore  the  accomplice  of  the  emperor.  The  first  restoration  had 
been  merciful,  the  second  would  be  terrible  in  its  righteousness,  in 
its  determination  to  subdue  revolution.  An  indemnity  of  seven 
hundred  millions,  payable  in  five  years,  with  military  occupation 
'^y  1 50*000  men  to  be  supported  by  France  until  it  was  paid,  and  a 
reduction  of  territory  to  the  limits  of  1790,  was  the  punishment 


THE     HUNDRED     DAYS  608 

1815 

meted  out  to  the  conquered  country.  Even  her  "  natural  fron- 
tiers "  were  denied  to  France,  for  Savoy  and  part  of  Alsace  were 
taken  away. 

France  faced  the  future  with  an  alienated,  if  not  an  alien, 
king,  upon  the  throne;  with  a  government  which  in  principles  and 
in  policy  antagonized  the  nation.  Fortunately,  in  the  bosom  of  the 
nation  the  truths  of  the  great  revolution  still  lived  and  were 
destined  to  will  and  to  work  in  succeeding  years.  Beneath  Bour-. 
bon  suppression  and  beyond  Bourbon  reaction  was  the  force  of 
things  intense,  elemental,  national,  which  the  spirit  of  1789  had 
waked  imperishably.  The  history  of  France  in  the  nineteenth 
century  is  the  epilogue  of  the  revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  eras, 
and  the  prologue  to  the  drama  of  the  twentieth  century. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


GENERAL  HISTORIES 

Carlyle,  Thomas. — "  The  French  Revohition." 

Many  editions,  the  best  being  that  edited  by  Fletcher.     New  York,  1902, 
Fyffe,  Charles  Alan. — "  History  of  Modern  Europe."     New  York. 

Vol.  I.  of  this  history  contains  an  excellent  brief  account  of  the  Revolution 

in  France. 
Gardiner,  Mrs.  B.  M. — "The  French  Revolution."    London  and  New  York. 

An  excellent  manual,  in  the  "  Epochs  of  Modern  History  "  series. 
Mallet,  Charles  E. — "  The  French  Revolution."     New  York. 

This  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  single  volume  histories. 
Mathews,  Shailer. — "  The  French  Revolution."     New  York,  1898. 
Morris,  W.  O'Connor. — "The  French  Revolution  and  the  First  Empire."     Lon- 
don and  New  York. 
Rose,  J.  H. — "  The  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  Era."     New  York,    1894. 
Stephens,  H.  Morse. — "  The  French  Revolution."     2  vols.     New  York,  1886. 
"  The  Revolution  and  Europe."     New  York. 

Stephens's  works  rank  as  the  most  scholarly  in  English. 
Sybel,  H.  K.  L.  Von. — "  History  of  the  French  Revolution."    4  vols.,  London, 
1868. 

Impartial  but  unfavorable.     Excellent  in  economic  matters.     This  work  is 

translated  from  the  German,  Von  Sybel  being  a  pupil  of  Ranke. 
Taine,  H.  A. — "  The  French  Revolution."    London,  1885. 

Brilliant  and  depicting  vividly  the  social  condition  of  France. 
Thiers,  Adolphe. — "  History  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  Consulate,  and  the 
Empire."     10  vols.     New  York,  1862. 


SPECIAL  PERIODS  AND  TOPICS 

Aulard,  Prof. — "  Le  Cnlte  dc  la  Raisoji  ct  dc  VElrc  supreme."     1892. 

"La  Diplomatie  dii  premier  Comite  de  Saint  public"  {Revue  de  la  Revolu- 

fion  franqaise,  1890,  vols.  XVIII  and  XIX). 

" L' Eloquence  parlernentaire  pendant  la  Revolution."     Paris,  1885. 

Belloc,  Hilaire. — "Life  of  Danton."     New  York,  1902. 

Beesley. — "  Robespierre."     London,  1901. 

Boiteau. — "La  France  en  1789."     Paris,  1883. 

Ranks  among  the  authorities  on  France  just  prior  to  the  Revolution. 

Bire,   Edmond. — "La  Legende   des  Girondins."     Paris,   1881. 

Buckle,  Henry  Thomas. — "  History  of  Civilization."     New  York. 

Chapters  VTTI  to  XIV  in  volume  I  bear  directly  on  the  Revolution.     This 
is  the  best  authority  to  consult  on  the  intellectual  state  of  France. 

507 


608  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Chuquet,  A.—"Les  guerres  de  let  Revolution."  Vol.  I,  "Premiere  invasion 
prussienne,"  Paris,  1886;  vol.  II.,  "  Valmy,"  Paris,  1887;  vol.  III.,  "La 
rclraite  de  Brunswick,"  Paris,  1887;  vol.  IV,  "  Jemmapcs  ct  la  conqucte  de 
la  Bclgiqiie,"  Paris,  1890 ;  vol.  V.,"  L' Expedition  dc  Custine,"  Paris,  1890. 

Doniol,  H. — "  La  Revolution  et  la  Feodalite."     Paris,  1874. 

Droz,  Th. — "  Histoire  du  regne  de  Louis  XV IL"    3  vols.,  1839. 

Dubost,  Antonin. — "  Danton  et  les  massacres  de  Septembre."     Paris,  1885. 

Duruy,  George. — "Histoire  de  France."    Paris,  1858. 

Hall,  H.  F. — "  Napoleon's  Letters  to  Josephine."    London,  1901. 

This  is  the  first  time  these  letters  have  been  collected  and  translated. 

Hamel,  Ernest. — "Histoire  de  Robespierre."     1865. 

Lewes,  G.  H. — "  Life  of  Maximilian  Robespierre."     London,  1849. 

Lowell,  E.  J. — "  The  Eve  of  the  French  Revolution."    Boston,  1893. 
An  excellent  work. 

Lebon,  Andre. — "  L'Angleterre  et  V Emigration."    Paris,  1882. 

Morley,  John. — "  Rousseau."    London,  1873. 

"  Voltaire."    London,  1871. 

Morris,  Gouverneur. — "  Diary  and  Letters."     New  York. 

Robinet,  J.  E. — "  Memoir es  stir  la  vie  privee  de  Danton."    Paris,  1865. 

"  Proces  des  Dantonistes."    Paris,  1879. 

"Danton  emigre."    Paris,  1887. 

Sciout,  L. — "  Le  Directoire."    3  vols.,  1897. 

Sorel,  A. — "  L'Europe  et  la  Revolution  frangaisc."     Paris. 

Beyond  question  one  of  the  ablest  histories  ever  written.  Extremely  valu- 
able for  its  discussion  of  the  influence  of  the  Revolution  on  Europe.  Sin- 
gularly strong  and  exact. 

"La  Paix  de  Bale."  {Revue  historique,  vols.  V  to  VII,  1877-1878). 

" L'Autrichc  et  le  Coviite  de  Saliit  public."    (Ibid.,  vols.  XVII  and  XVIII). 

"L'Europe   et    le    Directoire."     {Revue    des    Deux    Mondes,    15    juillet-15 

aout,  1897.) 

Taine,  H.  A. — "The  Ancient  Regime."     New  York. 

It  is  said  that  Taine  read  300,000  documents  in  the  preparation  of  this  work. 

Tocqueville,  Ale.xis  de. — "  France  before  the  Revolution."     New  York. 

Terneaux,    Mortimer. — "  Histoire    de    la    Terrcur,    d'aprcs    Documents    authen- 
tiques  et  inedits."     Paris,  1862-1869. 
Highly  praised  by  Von  Sybel. 

Wallon,  A.  H. — "Les  Rcprcsentants  en  Mission."     5  vols.,  1889-1890. 

Young,  Arthur. — "  Travels  in  France  during  the  Years  1787,  1788,  1789."     Lon- 
don and  New  York. 
This  book  gives  much  information  respecting  the  agricultural  condition  of 
the  country.    It  is  a  valuable  work,  and  is  quoted  by  practically  all  historians 
of  the  French  Revolution. 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NAPOLEONIC  ERA 

Adams,  Henry. — "  Historical  Essays."    New  York. 

Containing  "  Napoleon  at  St.  Domingo." 
Ashton,  John. — "  English  Caricature  and  Satire  on  Napoleon  I."     London,  1885. 
Barras,  Paul  Francis  John  N.,  Comte  de. — "  Memoirs."     New  York,   1895. 
Bowman,  H.  M. — "  The  Preliminary  Stages  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens."     Toronto, 
1900. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  509 

Bingham,   D.    A. — "Letters   and   Dispatches   of   the    First    Napoleon."     3   vols. 
London,  1884. 
Edited  in  a  spirit  hostile  to  Napoleon. 
Bonaparte,  Joseph  de. — "Memoirs."     (An  English  translation  of  the  letters  in 
these  memoirs  was  published  as  "  Confidential  Correspondence  of  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte  and  his  Brother  Joseph,"  New  York,  1856.) 
Browning,  Oscar. — "  England  and  Napoleon  in  1803."     London,  1887. 

With  Lord  Whitworth's  dispatches. 
Castlereagh,  Lord. — "  Correspondence." 

Relating  to  the  first  negotiations  for  peace,  1814. 
Chesney,  General  C. — "  Waterloo  Lectures."    3d   edition.     1875. 
Fay,  S.  B. — "  The  Execution  of  the  Due  d'Enghien."     (American  Historical  Re- 
view, July  and  October,  1898.) 
Ford,  G.  S. — "  Hanover  and  Prussia,  1795-1803."     New  York,  1903. 

A  study  of  the  Prussian  neutrality  system. 
Fisher,  H.  A.  L. — "  Studies  in  Napoleonic  Statesmanship."     Oxford,  1903. 
Fournier,  Augiiste. — "  Napoleon  the  First."    Tr.  by  E.  G.  Bourne.     New  York, 
1903. 
Probably  the  best  single  volume  life  yet  written.     The  appendix  contains  an 
excellent  bibliography. 
George,  H.  B. — "  Napoleon's  Invasion  of  Russia."    London,  1899. 
Lanfrey,  P. — "  Histoire  de  Napoleon  Icr."    4  vols. 

Hostile  to  Napoleon. 
Laughton,  J.  K. — "  Life  of  Nelson."    2d    edition.     London,  1900. 
Mahan,  A.  T. — "  Life  of  Nelson,  the  Embodiment  of  the  Sea  Power  of  Great 
Britain."     Boston,  1897. 

"  Influence  of  Sea  Power  on  the  French  Revolution  and  the  Empire,  1793- 

1812."     Boston,  1892. 
Maxwell,  W.  H. — "Life  of  Wellington."    London,  1839-1841. 
Mencval,  Baron. — "Napoleon  ct  Marie  Louise."    New  edition.    1894. 
Metternich,  Prince — "  Nachgclassene  Papiere." 
Morris,  W.  O. — "  Napoleon."     New  York. 

"  The  Campaign  of  1815."     London,  1900. 

Napier,  Sir  William  F.  P.—"  History  of  the  Peninsular  War."     New  York. 
Oman,  C.  W.  C. — "  History  of  the  Peninsular  War."     London,  1903. 
Paget,  Sir  Arthur. — "Diplomatic  and  Other  Correspondence,   1794-1807."     Lon- 
don, 1896. 
Sir  Arthur  Paget  was  the  English  ambassador  at  Vienna  and  the  "  Paget 
Papers  "  will  be  found  extremely  interesting  and  of  unique  value. 
Roberts,  L.  M. — "  The  Negotiations  Preceding  the  Peace  of  Luneville."     (Trans. 

of  the  Royal  Historical  Society,  New  Series,  Vol.  XV.). 
Ropes,  J.  C. — "  The  Campaign  of  Waterloo."     Boston,  1892. 
A  military  history  of  special  excellence,  with  atlas. 

■ "  The  First  Napoleon."     Boston. 

Rose,  J.  H.  (Ed.) — "Dispatches  of  Colonel  T.  Graham  on  the  Italian  Campaign 
of  1796-1797."  (English  Historical  Review,  vol.  XIV,  pp.  111-124. 
321-331.) 

"  Napoleon  and  English  Commerce."     (English  Historical  Rcviczv,  Vol.  VIII, 

1893.) 

• "  Life  of  N'apoleon  T."     2  vols.     London  and  New  York,  1902. 

One  of  the  most  excellent  in  English. 
Russell,  Lord  John,—"  Memorials  and  Correspondence  of  Charles  J.  Fox."  Vol. 
IIL 


510  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sargent,  H.  H. — "  Napoleon  Bonaparte's  First  Campaign."    London,  1897. 

"  The  Campaign  of  Marengo."    London,  1897. 

Seeley,  Sir  John  Robert. — "  Short  History  of  Napoleon  the  First."    London. 

"  Life  and  Times  of  Stein."     Boston. 

Sloane,  W.  M. — "  Life  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte."    4  vols.     New  York,  1896. 
Scholarly  yet  popular.     The  set  is  beautifully  illustrated. 

"  Napoleon's  Plans  for  a  Colonial  System."     (American  Historical  Review, 

April,  1889.) 
Talleyrand-Perigord,  Charles  Maurice  de. — "  Memoir :  Written  by  Himself."    2 

vols.     New  York. 
Taine,  H.  A. — " Les  origines  de  la  France  contemporaine,  'La  regime  moderne'." 
Paris,  1890. 
Described  as  a  brilliant  analysis  of  the  creative  work  of  the  Consulate,  finely 
conceived  but  dominated  exclusively  by  a  single  point  of  view  as  regards 
Napoleon.     But  Taine's  works  are  really  studies  in  folk-psychology,  it  should 
be  remembered. 
Tompkins,  W. — "  Diary  of  a  Cavalry  Officer  in  the  Peninsular  and  Waterloo 

Campaigns."     London,  1894. 
Wilkinson,  Spenser. — "  Napoleon,  the  First  Phase."     (Owens  College  Historical 

Essays.)     London,  1902. 
Wolseley,  Field  Marshal,  Viscount  Lord. — "  The  Decline  and  Fall  of  Napoleon." 
London,  1895. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aboukir:  battle  of  (i799),  409 
Absolute  Power:  progress  of,  during  the 

consulate,  459 
Admiral,    L' :    attempts    to    kill    Collot- 

d'Herbois,  300 
Aix-la-Chapelle:  battle  of  (1793),  246 
Alkmaar:  battle  of  (1799),  407 
Adige:  battles  of  the   (1809),  479 
Amiens,  Treaty  of  (1802),  444 
Ancicns,  Council  of  the,  352 
Andre:  leader  of  the  Center,  139 
Antoinette:  see  Marie 
Antiboul :  death  of,  279 
Argonne :  campaign  of  the,  209 
Aspern-Essling:  battle  of   (i8og),  479 
Assignats  :  sale  of,  372 
Astrowno:  battle  of  (1812),  485 
Aubiers:  battle  of  (1793),  249 
Augereau,  Pierre  Francois  Charles,  Duke 

of  Castiglione :  enters   Paris  at  the 

head    of    the    troops,    391 ;    arrests 

Pichegru,  391 
Angers :  taken  by  Cathelineau,  270 
Aumont,  Duke  d' :  offered  the  command 

of  the  militia,  62 
Austerlitz:  battle  of  (1805),  465 
Austria :  plan  of  the  campaign  against, 

380 


B 


Baboeuf,    Gracchus:    proposes    terms    of 

peace  to  the  directory,  277 !  trial  and 

death  of,  378 
BabcEuf  Conspiracy,  The,  376;  betrayed 

by  Grisel,  277 '■>  trial  and  death  of  the 

accomplices  in,  378 
Bailleul :  his  account  of  tlic  state  of  the 

T.uxembourg  when  the  directors  first 

entered,  370 
Bailly,  Jean  Sylvain :  elected  member  of 


the  states-general,  39;  presides  over 
the  assembly,  51;  appointed  mayor 
of  Paris,  71 ;  presents  Louis  XVI 
with  the  keys  of  Paris,  72 

Bancal-des-Issarts:  appointed  deputy  to 
the  Versailles  assembly,  69 

Banquet  of  October  First,  The,  92 

Barbaroux,  Charles  Jean  Marie :  death 
of,  279 

Barbe-Marbois,  Franqois,  Marquis  de: 
elected  president  of  the  elder  coun- 
cil, 386 

Barentin :  makes  speech  at  the  opening 
of  the  states-general,  43 ;  opposes  in- 
fluence of  Nccker,  50 

Barnave,  Antoine  Pierre  Joseph  Marie: 
leader  of  the  national  party,  81  ; 
opposes  the  granting  of  the  veto 
power  to  the  king,  119;  directs  the 
Jacobin  Club,  T28;  escorts  Louis 
XVI  back  to  Paris,  138;  his  speech 
in  the  assembly  on  the  question  of 
the  king's  trial,   140 

Barras,  Paul  Jean  Frangois  Nicolas, 
Count  of:  appointed  commander  of 
the  armed  force  under  the  directory, 
357;  chosen  a  member  of  the  direc- 
tory, 361 ;  harangues  Bonaparte  on 
his  return  to  Paris,  397;  his  disso- 
lute course  of  life,  401 ;  his  change 
of  party,  406 ;  treats  with  the  pre- 
tender, 406;  resigns,  412 

Barrcre  de  Vicuzac,  Bertrand :  elected 
member  of  the  states-general,  39; 
proposes  liberal  measures  in  the  con- 
vention, 2^2 ;  character  and  princi- 
ples of,  300;  arrest  and  trial  of,  333 

Barthelemy,  Frangois,  Marquis  de :  re- 
places Le  Tourneur  in  the  directory, 
386 

Basel   (Bale),  Peace  of  (1795),  347 

Bastile,  The:  siege  of  (1789),  62 

Batavian  Republic,  The :  constituted  and 
allied  with  P'rance,  347 


513 


514 


INDEX 


Battalion  of  Patriots :  enrollment  of  the, 

357 

Bautzen:  battle  of  (1813),  488 

Bavaria :  erected  into  a  kingdom,  466 

Baylen:  battle  of  (1808),  477 

Bcaubarnais,  Alexandre  de :  death  of, 
279 

Beauharnais,  Eugene  de :  made  viceroy 
of  Italy,  462 

Bcaulieu :  made  minister  of  finance,  176 

Beaupreau:  battle  of  (i793)>  249 

Beauvais :  death  of,  279 

Belgium :  ceded  to  France  by  Austria, 
385 

Bergen:  battle  of  (1799),  407 

Berlin:  taken  by  the  French  (1806),  470 

Berlin,  University  of:  founded,  487 

Berlin  Decree  (1806),  473 

Bernadotte,  Jean  Baptiste  Jules :  see 
Charles  (XIV)  John,  King  of 
Sweden 

Berthier :  death  of,  73 

Berthier,  Alexandre :  invested  with  the 
principality  of  Neufchatel,  468 

Billaud-Varrennes,  Jean  Nicolas  :  leader 
of  the  commune,  203;  attacks  Robe- 
spierre, 310;  trial  of,  333 

Biron,  Armand  Louis,  Duke  of:  ordered 
to  advance  upon  Mons,  173 ;  retreat 
of,  173 

Blacons,  Marquis  des :  pronounces  re- 
nunciation of  privileges  of  Dauphine, 

75 
Bliicher,  Gebhard  Leberecht  von :  at  the 

battle  of  Waterloo,  501 
Boileau :  death  of,  279 
Boissy  d'Anglas,  Count  Frangois  Antoine 

de :   his   courageous   conduct  in  the 

assembly,  before  the  insurgents,  237 
Bolingbroke,  Henry  St.  John,  Viscount : 

his  influence  on  Voltaire,  13 
Bonaparte,  Jerome :  receives  Westphalia, 

471 ;  driven  from  his  capital,  479 
Bonaparte.  Joseph:  declared  king  of  the 

two  Sicilies,  467 ;  receives  the  crown 

of  Spain,  475 ;  leaves  Madrid,  479 
Bonaparte,  Louis  :  made  king  of  Holland, 

467 
Bonaparte,  Lucien :  resigns  his  insignias 

of  office,  415 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon:  see  Napoleon  (I) 

Bonaparte 
Borodino:  battle  of  (1812),  485 


Bouille,  Frangois  Claude  Amour,  Mar- 
quis de:  duplicity  of,  124;  establishes 
a  camp  at  Montmedy  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  king,  137;  death  of,  125 
note 

Bread  Riot,  The,  93 

Breteuil,  Baron  de:  made  member  of  the 
ministry,  56 

Brezenval,  Baron  de :   imprisonment  of, 

_73 

Brienne,  fitienne  Charles  de  Lomenie  de : 
made  minister  of  finance,  32;  takes 
oath  of  loyalty  to  the  nation,  113 

Brissot  de  Warville,  Jean  Pierre :  peti- 
tion drawn  up  by,  demanding  the 
dethronement  of  the  king,  142; 
divides  the  emigrants  into  three 
classes,  157;  advocates  rigorous 
measures  against  the  emigrants, 
157;  his  speech  respecting  abdica- 
tion, 183;  attacked  by  Robespierre 
and  Marat,  254 ;  death  of,  279 

Broglie,  Victor  Franqois,  Duke  de: 
made  member  of  the  ministry,  56 

Brune,  Guillaume  Marie  Anne :  victories 
of,  in  Holland,  407;  joins  Napoleon 
after  his  return,  501 

Brunswick,    Manifesto    of    (1792),    186, 

Billow,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  von :  at  the 
battle  of  Waterloo,  501 

Buzot,  Frangois  Nicolas  Leonard :  de- 
mands trial  of  king,  141 ;  death  of, 
280 


Cadoudal,  Georges :  principal  leader  of 
the  Chouans,  375;  conspiracy  of, 
455 ;  execution  of,  455 

Caisse  Patriotique:  established,  107 
Calendar,  The  Republican,  282 

Calonne,  Charles  Alexandre  de :  made 
minister  of  finance,  31;  joins  royal 
exiles,  72 

Calvados:  insurrection  in,  269;  sup- 
pressed, 274 

Campo-Formio,  Treaty  of  (i797)>  395 

Camus,  Armand  Gaston :  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  assembly  (1789),  53; 
presents  the  book  of  the  constitu- 
tion to  the  national  assembly,  151 

Capet;  origin  of  name,  227   note. 


INDEX 


515 


Carnot,  Lazare  Nicolas  Margp.ierite :  ap- 
pointed minister  of  war,  and  major- 
general  of  the  republican  armies, 
341 ;  replaces  Sieyes  in  the  directory, 
361 ;  tries  to  prevent  the  struggle 
between  the  directory  and  the  roy- 
alists, 388 
Carra,  Jean  Louis :  death  of,  279 
Carrier,  Jean  Baptiste:  impeachment  of, 

325  ;  trial  of,  328 
Carteaux,   Jean    Frangois :    pursues   the 

sectionary  army  to  Marseilles,  274 
Cassano:  battle  of  (1799),  403 
Castricum:  battle  of  (1799),  407 
Catherine  II,  Empress  of  Russia :  growth 

of  Russia  under,  133 
Cazales,    Jacques     Antoine    Marie    dc : 

sketch  of,  79 
Center,  The :  origin  and  use  of  the  term, 
82;   makes  overtures  to  the  court, 

139 

Chambonnas,  Scipio :  made  minister  of 
finance,  176 

Champ-Aubert :  battle  of    (1814),  491 

Champ  de  Mars :  confederation  of  the 
kingdom  at,  121 

Championet,  Jean  fitienne :  enters  Na- 
ples, 402 

Chapelier:  his  opinion  on  the  renewal 
of  the  assembly,  114;  directs  the 
Feuillant  Club,  128 

Chappe,  Claude :  invents  system  of  tele- 
graphs, 336    twte 

Chappe,  Ignace :  invents  system  of  tele- 
graphs, 336  note 

Charles  X,  King  of  P>ance  :  elected  mem- 
ber of  the  states-general,  39;  opposes 
influence  of  Nccker,  50;  leaves 
France,  72;  opens  correspondence 
with  Lyons,  115;  hastens  the  de- 
termination of  the  cabinets  of  the 
coalition,  136;  impeached,  164;  signs 
armistice  with  the  allies,  499 

Charles  (XIV;  John,  King  of  Sweden: 
dismissed  through  Sieves,  40S; 
•elected  king  of  Sweden,  481 

Chateau  Thierry:  battle  of  (  1814),  491 

Chateauvieux  Regiment:  revolt  of,  125 

Chatelet,  Duke  du  :  propn<es  the  redemp- 
tion of  titlies,  74 

Chatillon:  battles  of  (i/Q,^).  276 

Clugny  de  Nui^,  Jean  f^tionne  Bernard: 
becomes  minister  of  finance,  28 


Chenier,  Marie  Joseph  de :  advocates  the 
tause  of  the  proscribed  conventional- 
ists, 330 

Cherasco,  Amnesty  of  (1796),  380 

Chesterfield,  Philip  Dormer  Stanhope, 
Earl  of:  anticipates  the  French 
Revolution,  12 

Cholet:  battles  of  (1793),  248  note,  249, 
276 

Chouannerie,  The:  sketch  of,  248  note 

Chouans :  plot  against  Napoleon,  441 

Cinq-cents,  Council  of  the,  352 

Cintra:  battle  of  (1808),  477 

Cisalpine  Republic :  formed  by  Bona- 
parte, 384 

Clergy,  The :  oppose  the  revolution,  106 

Clermont-Tonnerre,  Stanislas,  Count  of: 
opposes  the  sending  of  the  deputa- 
tion to  the  king.  69 ;  favors  the  Eng- 
lish constitution.  80 

Clichy,  The  Club  of,  388 

Club  Monarchique :  sketch  of,  128 

Coalitions  against  France:  the  first 
(1792-1797),  182,  244;  the  second 
(1799-1801),  401;  the  third  (1805), 
462;  the  fourth  (1806-1807),  469; 
the  fifth  (1809),  476;  the  sixth 
(i8i3-i8i5),488 

Code  N^apoleon,  447 

Collot-d'Herbois,  Jean  Marie :  leader  of 
the  commune,  203 ;  arrest  and  trial 
of,  333 

Commission    of    Eleven :    formation    of, 

335 
Commission  of  Twelve :  appointment  of, 

256;  insurrection  against,  256 
Committees,  The:  strive  to  bring  about 
the  fall  of  Robespierre  by  means  of 
Catherine  Tlieot,  305 ;   its  members, 
320 ;  democratic  members  replaced  by 
Thermidorian  members,  323 
Communal  List,  The  :  433 
Compte  Rendu  :  X^ecker  issues.  30 
Compulsory   Loans,    Law   of:    effect  of, 

406;  abolished,  432 
Concordat  of  1801.  The,  449 
Conde :  taken  by  the  allied  powers.  271 
Conde,  Louis  Joseph  de  F>ourhon.  Prince 
dc :  oppose-;  iiitliuncc  of  Necker.  50; 
leaves  France.  72;  opens  correspond- 
ence   with    Lvons,    ii^;    impeached, 

Condorcet,  Mario  Jean  Antoine  Nicolas 


516 


INDEX 


Caritat,  Marquis  of :  poisons  himself, 
280 

Constitutional  Circles,  The :  ordered  to 
be  closed,  390 

Constitutionalists,  The :  oppose  the  meas- 
ures against  the  emigrants,  158 

Constitutions  of  France:  (1791),  145; 
(i793)»  271;  (the  year  III),  351;  of 
Sieyes,  432;  (the  year  VIII),  435; 
(the  year  X),  453 

Conti,  Prince  de :  opposes  influence  of 
Necker,  50 ;  leaves  France,  72 

Convention,  The  National  (the  third  na- 
tional legislative  assembly  of  the 
deputies  of  the  French  people)  :  con- 
stitutes itself,  215 ;  animosity  of  the 
Gironde  and  the  mountain,  215;  de- 
nounces Robespierre,  218;  animosity 
toward  Marat,  218;  fresh  accusa- 
tion of  Robespierre,  222;  question  of 
the  king's  trial,  228 ;  speech  of  Saint- 
Just,  230;  speech  of  Robespierre, 
231 ;  the  king  brought  to  its  bar, 
232;  De  Seze's  defense  of  the  king, 
234;  condemns  the  king  to  death, 
235 ;  revival  of  animosities  in,  240 ; 
summons  Dumouricz  to  its  bar,  251; 
arrest  of  its  commissioners  by  Du- 
mouricz, 252;  Isnard's  reply  to  the 
deputies  of  the  insurrections  of  May, 
1793.  256;  question  of  the  abolition 
of  the  Commission  of  Twelve,  259; 
debate  on  the  accusation  of  the  Gi- 
rondists, 262;  position  of,  through 
the  insurrection  of  the  departments, 
270;  liberal  measures  proposed  by 
Barrere,  273 ;  its  successes  against 
the  insurrectionary  towns  and  de- 
partments, 275 ;  condemns  Marie 
Antoinette  to  death,  278;  condemns 
the  twenty-two  Girondists  to  death, 
279;  decrees  the  existence  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  288 ;  question  of  the 
arrest  of  Danton,  293 ;  Robespierre 
appointed  president,  301 ;  Couthon 
presents  the  law  of  the  22d  Prairial, 
301 ;  Robespierre's  speech  of  the  8th 
Thermidor,  308;  decrees  the  arrest 
of  the  two  Robespicrrcs,  Coutlion, 
Lebas,  and  Saint-Just,  314;  position 
of,  after  tlie  fall  of  Robespierre,  320; 
question  of  recalling  the  proscribed 
memberi,  :i2'j  ■  arrest  of  Billaud,  Col- 


lot,  Barrere,  and  Vadier,  333;  re- 
vives the  old  martial  law,  333;  its 
reception  of  the  insurgents  of  Ger- 
minal, 336;  united  under  the  Girond- 
ists, 340;  decrees  the  constitution 
of  the  year  III,  351 ;  passes  decrees 
requiring  the  reelection  of  two-thirds 
of  its  members,  355 ;  concentrates 
its  powers  in  a  committee  of  five 
members,  356;  moderation  of,  in  the 
insurrection  of  the  13th  Vendcmiaire, 
360;  establishes  itself  as  a  national 
electoral  assembly,  361 ;  its  close,  362 

Copenhagen:  bombardment  of  (1801), 
446 

Corday,  Charlotte :  assassinates  Marat, 
268;  her  replies  before  the  tribunal, 
268  note;  death  of,  268 

Cordeliers  Club:  sketch  of,  128,  283 

Council  of  Ancients,  The :  members  of, 
352;  form  of  decision  and  rejection, 
352;  dispersed  by  Napoleon's  orders, 
416 

Council  of  Five  Hundred,  The :  its  mem- 
bers and  functions,  352 ;  list  of  its 
members  condemned  to  exile  by  the 
law  of  public  safety,  392 

Courtray:  battle  of  (1795),  345 

Couthon,  Georges:  his  character,  299; 
presents  the  law  of  the  22d  Prairial, 
301;  arrested,  314;  released,  315; 
executed,  318 

Craonne:  battle  of  (1814),  492 

Crete  (remnant  of  the  Mountain)  :  arrest 
of  seventeen  members  of,  334 

Custine,  Adam  Philippe,  Count  of:  su- 
perseded by  General  Houchard,  276; 
death  of,  279 


D 


Danican,  General :  summons  the  conven- 
tion to  withdraw  its  troops,  358 

Danton,  Georges  Jacques :  political  leader 
of  the  Cordeliers,  128;  his  character 
and  policy,  204;  his  interview  with 
Robespierre,  290;  his  refusal  to  de- 
fend himself,  292;  his  arrest,  293; 
his  execution,  294 

Dantonists,  The:  policy  of,  285;  fall  of, 
290;  execution  of  their  leaders,  295 

Daunou,  Pierre  Claude  Frangois :  his 
character  and  principles,  354 


INDEX 


517 


Davout,  Louis  Nicolas,  Duke  of  Auer- 
stadt  and  Prince  of  Eckmiihl :  joins 
Napoleon   after  his   return,   501 

Delaunay,  Jourdan :  at  the  siege  of  the 
Bastile,  63 

Delbred :  proposes  tlie  renewal  of  the 
oath  to  the  constitution  of  the  year 
III,  414 

Delessart,  Antoine  de  Valdec:  impris- 
oned, 168 

Democrats:  system  of,  297;  symbolical 
terms  used  by,  297;  revolutionary 
power  of,  325 ;  reestablish  their  club 
at  the  Pantheon,  375 ;  their  society 
closed  by  the  directory,  376;  last  at- 
tempt and  final  defeat  of,  378;  elec- 
tions of  the  Year  VI,  400;  elections 
of  the  Year  VII,  403 

Departments :  insurrection  of  the,  267 

Desmoulins,  Benoit  Camille :  induces 
populace  to  take  up  arms,  56;  leader 
of  the  Cordeliers,  128;  his  character, 
286;  expelled  from  the  Jacobins, 
289;  his  execution,  294 

Dillon,  Theobald:  ordered  to  advance 
upon  Tournai,  173 

Directory,  The :  creation  of,  353 ;  dura- 
tion and  powers  of  its  members,  353  ; 
first  composition  of,  361 ;  wretched 
condition  of,  in  the  Luxembourg, 
370;  its  division  of  labor,  370;  its 
address  to  its  agents,  371 ;  attempts 
to  revive  paper  money,  372 ;  proposes 
mandats  territoriaux,  372 ;  attacked 
by  the  royalists  and  democrats,  375 ; 
changes  in,  385 ;  determines  to  at- 
tack the  legislative  majority,  391  ;  re- 
moves the  place  of  sittings  of  the 
councils,  391 ;  its  message  explaining 
the  reason  of  its  measures,  392;  the 
act  of  ostracism,  392;  returns  to  the 
revolutionary  government,  395 ;  its 
condition  makes  war  its  only  sup- 
port, 395;  its  unavowed  object  in 
the  expedition  to  Egypt,  397;  an- 
nuls the  democratic  elections  of  the 
year  VI,  400;  disorganized  by  tlie 
councils,  403 ;  two  new  parties  in, 
405  ;  reorganized,  406;  end  of,  412 

Dresden:  battle  of  (1813),  488 

Du  Portail :  replaced  by  Narbonne,  164 

Duchatel :  death  of,  279 

Ducos,  Jean  Francjois :  death  of,  279 


Ducos,  Roger :  introduced  into  the  direc- 
tory, 405 ;  appointed  one  of  the  con- 
suls, 432 

Dumouriez,  Charles  Franqois:  character 
and  ministry  of,  169;  his  report  as 
to  the  political  situation  of  France, 
171;  campaign  of,  209;  his  expedi- 
tion into  Holland,  241 ;  hostilities 
between  him  and  the  Jacobins,  242; 
his  design  of  reestablishing  constitu- 
tional monarchy,  245 ;  defection  of, 
249;  his  interview  with  a  deputa- 
tion from  the  Jacobins,  249;  declared 
a  traitor  by  the  convention,  252;  ar- 
rests the  commissioners  of  the  con- 
vention, 252 

Duphot,  General:  shot  at  Rome  in  a 
riot,  399 

Duplain  :  leader  of  the  commune,  203 

Duport,  Adrien:  announces  the  capture 
of  the  Bastile  to  the  assembly,  69; 
leader  of  the  national  party,  81 ; 
executes  the  confederation  of  the 
clubs,  82 

Duprat :  death  of,  279 

Duranthon :  made  provisional  minister  of 
the  marine,  176 

Durfort,  Count  Alphonse  de :  at  the 
Mantua  Conference,  136 


E,  F 

Eckmiihl:  battle  of  (1809),  479 

Egypt :  expedition  to,  398 

Elie:  leads  attack  on  the  Bastile,  65 

Emigrants :  consternation  of,  on  the 
king's  arrest,  142;  Girondists  desire 
rigorous  measures  against,  157;  in- 
vited by  the  king  to  return,  159;  act 
of  pardon  proposed  in  favor  of  the, 
446 

Empire,  The:  proclaimed,  458 

Empremesnil,  D' :  joins  advocates  of  lib- 
erty, 46 

Enghien,  Louis  Antoine  Henri  de  Bour- 
bon-Conde,  Duke  d' :  death  of,  456 

Entraigues,  D' :  his  pamphlet  on  the 
states-general,  38;  joins  advocates  of 
liberty,  46 

Epremesnil  (Espremesnil),  Jean  Jacques 
Duval  d' :  arrest  of,  35 


518 


INDEX 


Eylau:  battle  of  (1807),  470 

Fargeau,  Lepelletier  Saint:  stabbed,  240 

Favras,  Marquis  de :  plans  abduction  of 

the  king,  115 
Federation  Alsacienne:  formed,  120 
Federation  de  I'Etoile :  formed,  120 
Federation  de  Lyons :  formed,  120 
Federations  de  I'Est:  formed,  120 
Feuillant  Club:   organized,   128;   opened 

in  opposition  to  the  Jacobins,  139 
Feraud :   killed   by   the   insurgents,   337 ; 
condemnation  and  rescue  of  his  mur- 
derer, 339 
Finances  of  the  French  Revolution,  418 
Flesselles,  Jacques  de :  attempts  to  quiet 

the  populace,  60;  death  of,  67 
Fleurus:  battle  of  (1795),  345 
Fleury,  Andre  Hercule  de :  sketch  of,  25 

note 
Florence,  Treaty  of  (1801),  444 
Fonfrede,  Jean  Baptiste :  death  of,  279 
Fontarabia:  taken  by  the  French  (i795)> 

347 

Fouche,  Joseph,  Duke  of  Otranto :  ap- 
pointed minister  of  police,  436;  aids 
return  of  Napoleon,  500 

Foulon:  made  member  of  the  ministry, 
56;  death  of,  73 

Fouquier-Tinville,  Antoine  Quentin : 
his  accusation  decreed,  322 

Fox,  Charles  James :  makes  overtures  of 
peace  to  Napoleon,  467 

Francis  II,  Holy  Roman  Emperor :  ac- 
cession of,  167 

Franklin,  Benjamin:  believes  in  the 
single  legislative  house,  88  note 

Frederick  the  Great,  King  of  Prussia : 
growth  of  Prussia  inider,  133 

Frederick  William,  King  of  Prussia : 
power  of,  133 

French  Club,  The:  established  by  Ber- 
trand  de  Molleville,  160 

French  Revolution,  History  of:  the  old 
regime,  3 ;  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution,  17;  establishment  of  the 
states-general,  41 ;  the  rise  of  popu- 
lar government,  79 ;  separation  of 
national  parties,  ici ;  the  close  of 
the  assembly,  132;  the  national 
legislative  assembly,  151;  the  na- 
tional convention  and  the  trial  of 
Louis  XVI.  215;  fall  of  the  Girond- 
ists,   239;    beginning    of   the    terror. 


267;  fall  of  Robespierre,  296;  the 
Thermidorian  reaction,  320;  the 
close  of  the  national  convention,  341 ; 
the  government  of  the  directory,  367 ; 
fall  of  the  directory,  395 ;  the  fi- 
nances of  the  French  Revolution, 
418;  Napoleon  and  the  consulate, 
431;  the  empire,  461;  the  Hundred 
Days,  498 

Freron,  Louis  Stanislaus :  obtains  the 
accusation  of  Fouquier  -  Tinville, 
275 ;  forms  the  Jeunesse  Doree, 
326 

Friedland:  battle  of  (1807),  470 


Ganilh,  Charles :  appointed  deputy  to  the 
Versailles  assembly,  69 

Gardien :  death  of,  279 

Gaudin,  Emile :  tumult  occasioned  by  his 
proposal  of  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
council  of  ancients,  413 

Geneva :  united  to  France,  399 

Gensonne,  Armand :  attacked  by  Robe- 
spierre and  Marat,  254;  death  of, 
279 

Georgia,  State  of:  experiments  with  a 
single  legislative  house,  88  note 

Gerona:  battle  of  (1808),  477 

Girondist  Ministry,  The:  formed,  168; 
fall  of,  176 

Girondist  Party,  The:  its  principal 
speakers,  154 ;  its  true  chief,  155 ; 
wishes  for  rigorous  measures  against 
the  emigrants,  158;  attacks  the  min- 
istry, 161;  motives  of,  164;  its  prin- 
ciples and  position  at  the  opening 
of  the  convention,  215 ;  denounced 
by  the  Mountainists,  240;  struggle 
of  with  the  Jacobins,  247;  con- 
spiracies against,  253 ;  attacked  by 
Guadet,  255 ;  accused  by  Vergniaud 
of  conspiring  with  Dumourier,  260; 
insurrection  against  its  two  and 
twenty  leading  members  of,  260; 
fall  of,  265 ;  raises  an  insurrection 
in  the  departments,  267 

Goislard :  arrest  of,  35 

Grand  Champ:  battle  of   (1800),  441 

Granville:  battle  of   (1793),  276 


INDEX 


519 


Gregoire,  Abbe  Henri:  elected  member 
of  the  states-general,  39 

Gregorian  Calendar:  replaces  the  re- 
publican calendar,  467 

Grenelle,  Camp  of:  reception  of  the 
Baboeuf  conspirators  at,  377 

Grenoble :  rebellion  of,  102 

Grouchy,  Marquis  Emmanuel  de :  at  the 
battle  of  Waterloo,  501 

Guadet,  Marguerite  filie:  attacked  by 
Robespierre  and  Marat,  254;  at- 
tacks the  Girondists  in  the  conven- 
tion, 25s ;  death  of,  279 

Guillotin :  elected  member  of  the  states- 
general,  39 


H 


Hanau:  battle  of  (1813),  489 
Hebert,  Jacques  Rene:  arrest  of,  256 
Hebertists,  The :  principles  of,  283 ;   at- 
tacked by  Robespierre,  284 ;  struggle 
of,    with    the    committee    of    public 
safety,  284 
Heliopolis:  battle  of  (1800).  440 
Henriot :  receives  the  title  of  command- 
ant-general   of   the    insurrectionists, 
258;  released  by  Coffinhal,  315;  out- 
lawed by  the  convention,  315;  turns 
the    cannon    upon    the    convention, 
316;  his  execution,  318 
Hoche,  Lazare :  receives  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  republican  army,  345 ; 
successful    attacks    on    the   Chouans 
and  the  English  army  on  its  landing, 
351;    his   generalship,   374;    receives 
the  command  of  the  coast,  374 
Ilochstadt:  battle  of  (1800),  442 
Hohenlinden  :  battle  of  (1800),  442 
Holland  :  expedition  of  Dumouriez  into, 
246;   conquest  of,  by  the  armies  of 
the  republic,  346;  converted  into  a 
kingdom,  467 
Hondtschoote :   battle  of    (1793),  276 
Hood,   Samuel,  Viscount   Hood:    enters 

Toulon,  274 
Hooghlede:  battle  of   (1795),  345 
Hostages,  Law  of:  effect  of,  406;  abol- 
ished, 432 
Ilouchard.     Jean      Nicolas:     supersedes 

Custine,  276 
Ilulin:  leads  attack  on  tlic  Bastilo,  65 
Hundred  Days,  The,  498 


T,  J,  K 

Infernal  Machine :  the  conspiracy  of, 
441 

Insurrection  of  the  loth  of  August,  190 

Isnard,  Maximin :  his  speech  on  the 
question  of  a  declaration  of  the 
king,  162;  his  reply  to  the  deputies 
of  the  agitation  of  May,  1793,  256; 
resigns  the  chair,  257 

Italy :  conquest  of,  381 ;  second  cam- 
paign in,  438 

Jacobin  Club:  founding  and  growth  of, 
127;  struggle  of,  with  the  Giron- 
dists, 246;  attacked  by  the  Ther- 
midorians,  327 

Janus  I,  Emperor  of  Saint  Domingo: 
accession  of,  445 

Jarente :  takes  oath  of  loyalty  to  the 
nation,  113 

Jassy,  Treaty  of   (1791),   134 

Jeunesse  Doree,  The :  formed  by 
Freron,  326;  costume  and  composi- 
tion of,  326 

Jena:  battle  of  (1806),  470 

Jews :  declared  eligible  for  all  civil  and 
military  offices,  115  note 

Jordan  (Jourdan),  Camille:  ridicule  at- 
tached to  him,  387 

Joubert,  Barthelemy  Catherine :  put  at 
the  head  of  the  army  of  Italy,  405 ; 
death  of,  408 

Jourdan,  Count  Jean  Baptiste :  com- 
mands the  army  of  the  Sambre-et- 
Meuse,  373 

Jotirdcuil  :    leader  of  the  commune,  203 

Junot :  his  campaign  in  the  Spanish 
Peninsula,  474 

Kaunitz,  Prince  von :  attacks  Jacobins, 
166  note 

Kulm:  battle  of  (1813),  488 


La  Galissnnniere :  made  member  of  the 
ministry,  56 

La  Reveillere-Lepoaux,  Louis  Marie: 
elected  a  member  of  the  directory, 
361  ;  endeavors  to  establish  the 
deistical  religion,  372;  attacked  by 
tile  councils,  404;  resigns  the  direc- 
torial authority.  404 


620 


INDEX 


La  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt,  Frangois 
Alexandre  Frederic,  Duke  de : 
pleads  for  the  constitution,  59;  di- 
rects the  Feuillant  Club,  128 

La  Salle,  Marquis  de :  made  second  in 
command  of  militia,  62 

La  Vauguyon,  Duke  de :  made  member 
of  the  ministry,  56 

Lacaze :  death  of,  279 

Lacoste :  made  provisional  minister  of 
justice,  176 

Lacroix :  death  of,  294 

Lafayette,  Marie  Jean  Paul  Roch  Yves 
Gilbert  du  Motier,  Marquis  of: 
elected  vice  president  of  the  as- 
sembly, 60;  appointed  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  citizen  guard,  71 ; 
attempts  to  quell  bread  riot,  93; 
favors  w^ar  with  England,  118;  at 
the  confederation  of  the  kingdom, 
122;  directs  the  Feuillant  Club,  128; 
procures  an  amnesty  for  those  who 
favored  the  king's  flight,  146;  be- 
gins to  lose  his  high  reputation,  177; 
his  last  attempt  in  favor  of  legal 
monarchy,  181 ;  discussion  of  his  ac- 
cusation, 189;  his  acquittal,  189; 
military  insurrection  of,  against  the 
authors  of  the  loth  of  August,  199; 
arrested  and  confined  at  Magdeburg 
and  at  Olmutz,  200 

Lajarre:  made  minister  of  war,  176 

Lally-Tollendal,  Trophime  Gerard,  Mar- 
quis   de :    pleads    for    Necker,    59 
favors  the  English  constitution,  80 
desires  the  creation  of  a  senate,  87 
deserts  the  assembly,  loi ;  sketch  of, 
loi  note 

Lambesc,  Prince  de :  attempts  to  quell 
insurrection  in  Paris,  57 

Lameth,  Alexandre  Theodore  Victor, 
Count :  elected  member  of  the  states- 
general,  39;  leader  of  the  national 
party,  81 ;  directs  the  Jacobin  Club, 
128 

Lameths,  The:  join  with  the  Center  to 
reestablish   the   king,    139 

Lamoignon :  policy  of,  35 

Lasource,  Marie  David  Albin:  death 
of,  279 

Latour-Maubourg,  Charles  Fay,  Mar- 
quis de:  escorts  Louis  XVI  back  to 
Paris,  138 


Lavarre,  Bishop  of  Nancy:  at  opening 
of  the  states-general,  41 

Law  of  Public  Safety,  The :  presented  by 
the  commission  of  the  younger  coun- 
cil, 392 

Lebas,  Philippe  Francois:  arrested,  314; 
released,  315;  his  death,  318 

Lebon,  Joseph:  character  of,  324;  im- 
peachment of,  324 

Lechelle:  appointed  sole  general-in- 
chief  by  the  committee  of  public 
safety,  276 

Lecointre :  denounces  Billaud,  Collot, 
Barrere,  of  the  committee  of  public 
safety,  and  Vadier,  Amar,  and 
Vouland,  of  the  committee  of  gen- 
eral safety,  323 

Lefent :  leader  of  the  commune,  203 

Left,  The:  origin  and  use  of  the  term, 
82;  its  principal  speakers,  155 

Legendre,  Louis :  renews  Lecointre's  im- 
peachment of  the  democratic  party 
of  the  committees,  325 

Legion  of  Honor:  proposed  by  Napo- 
leon, 451;  reception  of,  451 

Legnano:  battle  of  (1799),  403 

Lehardy :  death  of,  279 

Leipsic :  battle  of  (1813),  488 

Leoben,  Treaty  of  (1797),  383 

Leopold  II,  Holy  Roman  Emperor: 
death  of,  167 

Le-Tourneur :  appointed  member  of  the 
directory,  361 

hevy-en-masse,  Decree  of,  272 

Ligny:  battle  of   (1815),  501 
igurian   Republic,  The :   threatened  by 
the  king  of  Sardinia,  402 

Lille:  siege  of  (1792),  212 

Lindet,  Robert :  his  report  concerning 
the  king,  232 

Lobau,  George  Mouton,  Count  de :  at 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  502 

Lomenie  de  Brienne,  fitienne  Charles  de: 
see  Brienne,  fitienne  Charles  de 
Lomenie  de 

Longwy:  siege  of  (1792),  205 

Louis  XV,  King  of  France :  summary 
of  his  reign,  22 

Louis  XVI,  King  of  France :  accession 
of,  25 ;  at  the  meeting  of  the  as- 
sembly (1789),  52;  surrounds  Paris 
with  troops,  54;  before  the  Versailles 
assembly,  71 ;  given  title  of  Restorer 


INDEX 


521 


of  French  Liberty,  75 ;  goes  to  Paris 
from  Versailles,  97 ;  at  the  confed- 
eration of  the  kingdom,  122;  re- 
ceives announcement  of  assistance 
from  the  coalition,  136;  sets  out  for 
Montmedy,  137;  arrested  at  Va- 
rennes,  138;  suspension  of,  140; 
declaration  of  Pilnitz  regarding,  143 ; 
closes  the  assembly,  145 ;  his  re- 
ception of  the  deputies  announcing 
the  opening  of  the  National  Legis- 
lative Assembly,  151 ;  question  in 
the  assembly  as  to  the  manner  of 
addressing  him,  152;  his  speech  at 
the  assembly,  153 ;  sanctions  the  de- 
cree of  the  assembly  respecting  his 
brother,  158;  puts  his  veto  on  de- 
crees respecting  the  emigrants  and 
the  dissentient  priests,  159;  message 
to,  from  the  assembly,  respecting 
the  neighboring  princes,  162;  intim- 
idated by  the  impeachment  of 
Delesart,  168;  visits  the  assembly 
with  a  view  to  the  question  of  war, 
171 ;  dismisses  the  Girondist  min- 
istry, 176;  riots  of  the  petitioners, 
180;  proposal  of  Lafayette  for  him 
to  go  to  Compiegne,  181 ;  reviews 
the  defenders  of  the  chateau  on  the 
morning  of  the  loth  of  August,  193 ; 
treatment  of,  on  leaving  the  Tuil- 
eries,  195 ;  imprisoned  in  the  Tem- 
ple, 198;  his  trial  demanded,  226, 
230;  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  con- 
vention, 232;  Malesherbes  offers  to 
be  his  defender,  233 ;  the  defense, 
234 ;  condemned  to  death,  235 ;  his 
conduct  on  hearing  sentence,  237 ; 
his  death,  237;  his  character,  238 
Louis  XVIII,  King  of  France:  elected 
member  of  the  states-general,  39; 
decree  of  the  assembly  relative  to, 
158;  lands  at  Calais,  496;  accession 
of,  498 
Louis  Philippe,  King  of  France :  his  early 

career,  250  note 
Lucca:  given  to  the  Prince  of  Piombino, 

462 
Luneville,   Treaty   of    (1801),   442 
Lutzen:  battle  of   (1813),  402 
Lyons :  revolt  of,  269 ;  defense  and  tak- 
ing of,   275 ;    sentence   of  the  com- 
mittee of  public  safety  against,  278 


M 


Macdonald,  fitienne  Jacques  Joseph 
Alexandre,  Duke  of  Tarentum :  re- 
fuses to  take  up  arms  for  Napoleon, 
500 

Madrid,  Treaty  of  (1801),  444 

Mailhe :  opposes  the  dogma  of  the 
king's    inviolability,   229 

Mainvielle :  death  of,  279 

Maitre-de-camp  Regiment :  revolt  of, 
125 

Malesherbes,  Christian  William  de  La- 
moignon  de:  sketch  of,  26;  offers 
to  defend  the  king  on  his  trial,  233 

Mallet,  General :  plot  of,  485 ;  its  failure, 

485 

Mallet-Dupan,  Jacques :  his  mission  to 
the  allied  powers,  177 

Malmesbury,  James  Harris,  Earl  of: 
sent  as  plenipotentiary  to  France 
and  Lille,  396 

Malouet,  Victor :  elected  member  of  the 
states-general,  39 

Mandat,  A.  J.  Gaillot  de:  plans  to  crush 
insurrection  of  August  10,  190; 
murdered  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  192 

Manege,  The:  so  called,  406;  meetings 
of,  closed,  408 

Mans:  battle  of  (1793),  248  note 

Mantua :  conference  at,  by  the  powers 
opposed  to  the  revolution,  136;  ca- 
pitulation of,  382 

Manuel,   Procurer :  suspended,   184 

Marat,  Jean  Paul :  leader  of  the  Com- 
mune, 203;  denounced  in  the  con- 
vention, 220;  attacks  the  Girondists, 
254 ;  assassination  of,  268 ;  his  in- 
fluence  after  his   death,  268 

Marengo:  battle  of   (1800),  439 

Marie  Antoinette,  Queen  of  France : 
secures  the  recall  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  34 ;  sentence  and  execution 
of,   279 

Marie  Louise,  Empress  of  the  French : 
her  marriage  with  Napoleon,  481 

Marmont,  Auguste  Frederic  Louis  Viesse 
de :  accepts  a  command  against 
Napoleon,  501 

"Marseillaise:  "  composed,  167  note 

Martial  law:  revived  by  the  convention, 

333 
Massacre  of  September  2,  The,  2C7 


622 


INDEX 


Massena,  Andre:  victories  of,  in  Switz- 
erland, 407 
Maupeou,   Rene   Nicolas   Charles:   vice- 
chancellor,  12 
Maurepas,      Jean      Frederic      Philippe, 
Count :  influence  of,  26 ;  death  of,  30 
Maury,  Jean  Siffrein :  elected  member  of 
the  states-general,  39 ;  sketch  of,  79 ; 
his  opinion  on  the  renewal  of  the 
assembly,   114 
Maximun,  Law  of  the  (i793)»  271 
Mayence:  taken  by  allied  powers,  271 
Menou,  Baron  Jacques  Francois  de :  re- 
placed in  the  command  of  the  army 
by  Barras,  357 
Merlin  de  Douai,   Count   Philippe   An- 
toine :  attacked  by  the  councils,  404 ; 
resigns  the  directorial  authority,  404 
[Metternich,     Prince     Clemens     Wenzel 
Nepomuk  Lothar  von :  plans  resto- 
ration of  the  Bourbons,  498 
Milan  Decree  (1807),  473 
Mirabeau,     Gabriel     Honore     Riquetti, 
Count:     elected     member     of     the 
states-general,    39;    at   the    meeting 
of   the   assembly    (1789),   52;    sug- 
gests   address    to    be    presented    to 
king,   54;    attempts   to   quell   insur- 
rection in  Paris,  68;  sketch  of,  84; 
foretells   fate   of   the   king,  98;    his 
greatest  speech,  100;  his  opinion  on 
the   renewal   of  the   assembly,    114; 
attempts     to     give     the     revolution 
stability,     116;     upholds     the     veto 
power  of  the  king,   119;  urges  ad- 
mission of  ministers  to  the  assembly, 
124 ;  opposes  fugitive  law,  130 ;  death 
of,  83,  130 
Miranda,  Franisco  Antonio  Gabriel :  his 
campaign  against  the  allied  powers, 
246 
Mohilev:  battle  of   (1812),  485 
Molleville,   Bertrand   de :    chief   tool   of 

the  court,  160 
Mons:  battle  of  (1793),  276 
Montebello:  battle  of  (1800),  439 
Monteil,  Terrier :  made  minister  of  the 

interior,    176 
Montereau  :    battle  of  (1814),  491 
Montesquieu,      Charles      de      Secondat, 

Baron  de :  sketch  of,  13 
Mont   Lu(;on,  Treaty  of    (1800),  441 
Montmedy ;     camp     established     at,     by 


General  Bouille,  for  the  reception 
of  the  king,  137 

Montmorin :  commissioned  by  the  assem- 
bly to  inform  the  European  powers 
of  its  pacific  intentions,  137 

Moreau,  Jean  Victor:  appointed  by 
Bonaparte  to  command  the  army  of 
the  Rhine,  438 

Moulins,  Auguste:  introduced  into  the 
directory,  405 

Mounier,  Jean  Joseph :  elected  member 
of  the  states-general,  39;  pleads  for 
Necker,  58;  joins  Necker's  party, 
80;  desires  the  creation  of  a  senate, 
87;  deserts  the  assembly,  loi 

Mountain,  The:  sketch  of,  216;  demands 
the  trial  of  Louis  XVL  226;  decrees 
the  constitution  of  1793,  271 ;  its 
success  against  the  insurrectionary 
towns  and  departments,  274;  its 
measures  against  Robespierre,  311; 
seventy-six  of  its  members  con- 
demned to  death,  or  arrested,  339 

Moscow:  taking  of,  485 

Mother  of  God :  see  Theot,  Catherine 

Murat,  Joachim:  made  king  of  Naples, 
475 


N 


Nancy:   revolt  of,   125 

Nantes:  trial  of  ninety-four  of  the  in- 
habitants of,  325 

Naples :  taken  by  General  Championnet, 
402 

Napoleon  (I)  Bonaparte:  early  life  of, 
357  note;  appointed  second  in  com- 
mand under  Barras,  357;  appointed 
general  of  the  interior,  and  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  army  of  Italy, 
374;  his  campaign  against  Austria, 
379;  his  conquest  of  Italy,  381;  his 
return  to  Paris,  397;  his  expedition 
to  Egypt,  397;  learns  the  state  of 
affairs  in  France,  409;  returns  to 
Paris  in  triumph,  409;  plots  with 
Sieyes  against  the  directory,  410; 
his  answer  to  the  republicans,  412; 
creates  a  commotion  in  the  council 
of  the  five  hundred,  415;  appointed 
one  of  the  consuls,  432;  his  govern- 
ment, 436;  sets  out  on  the  conquest 
of  Italy,  438;  returns  to  Paris,  440; 


INDEX 


523 


the  infernal  machine,  441;  progress 
of  France  under,  447;  proposes  the 
creation  of  a  Legion  of  Honor,  451 ; 
appointed  sole  consul,  452;  his 
answer  to  a  deputation  from  the 
senate,  456;  crowned  emperor,  459; 
receives  the  crown  of  the  Lombards, 
462;  victories  of  Ulm  and  Auster- 
Htz,  464;  takes  Vienna,  464; 
marches  against  Prussia,  470;  turns 
his  attention  towards  England,  472; 
threatened  with  excommunication 
by  the  Pope,  476;  his  entry  into 
Madrid,  478;  divorces  Josephine, 
and  marries  the  Archduchess  Marie- 
Louise,  481 ;  birth  of  his  son,  the 
king  of  Rome,  481 ;  his  campaign 
against  Russia,  484;  his  retreat 
from  Moscow,  485 ;  the  reaction 
against  his  power,  485 ;  his  return 
to  Paris,  489;  his  abdication  at 
Fontainebleau,  493 ;  his  character, 
494 ;  compared  with  Cromwell,  495 ; 
his  return,  500 

Narbonne:  replaces  Du  Portail  as  min- 
ister of  war,  164;  dismissed  from 
the  ministry,  168 

National  Legislative  Assembly:  early 
relations  between  it  and  the  king, 
151;  question  of  the  manner  of  ad- 
dressing the  king,  152;  the  king's 
speech,  153;  opening  of  the,  156; 
its  decree  relative  to  the  king's 
brother,  158;  its  decree  with  regard 
to  the  emigrants,  158;  with  regard 
to  the  dissentient  priests,  158;  Is- 
nard's  speech,  162 ;  decrees  the  dec- 
laration, 162 ;  question  of  a  declara- 
tion to  the  king  requesting  him  to 
require  the  neighboring  princes  to 
summon  the  military  gatherings, 
162;  passes  a  decree  impeaching  the 
king's  brother,  the  Count  d'Artois, 
and  the  Prince  de  Conde,  164; 
question  of  war,  171 ;  decrees  the 
formation  of  a  camp  of  twenty  thou- 
sand men  at  Paris,  174;  decrees  the 
banishment  of  the  nonjuring  priests, 
175;  letter  to,  from  Lafayette,  177; 
debates  concerning  the  riots  of  the 
20th  of  June,  178;  division  between 
it  and  the  commune,  201 ;  question 
of  waiting  for  the  Prussians  under 


the  walls  of  Paris,  205;  desires  to 
prevent  the  massacre  of  the  2d  of 
September,  207;  concluding  observa- 
tion on,  212;   see  also  Convention, 
The  National 
Necker,  Jacques:   appointed  minister  of 
finance,  28;  retires,  30;  recalled,  37; 
at  the  opening  of  the  states-general, 
42;  becomes  the  leader  of  assembly, 
53;  banished,  56;  returns  to  France, 
72;  favors  the  English  constitution, 
80;  desires  the  creation  of  a  senate, 
87;    invested    with    a    financial    dic- 
tatorship, 106;  resigns,  123 
Neerwinden:  battle  of  (1793),  249 
Nelson,  Horatio:  at  the  battle  of  Traf- 
algar, 463 
Neutrals,  League  of  (1800),  446 
Ney,  Michel:  yields  to  Napoleon's  influ- 
ence, 500 
Nile:  battle  of  the  (1798),  409 
Noailles,  Viscount  Louis  Marie  de:  in- 
forms   the    assembly    of    the    Paris 
insurrection,  69 
Novi:  battle  of  (1799),  408 


O,  P.  Q 

Orleans,  Louis  Philippe  Joseph,  Duke  of, 

surnamed     Egalite:     banished,     34; 

joins  the  assembly,  53;  his  influence 

in  the  assembly,  84 ;    sent   to   Eng^ 

land,  102;  returns  to  Paris,  123 
Ormesson,  Henri  Frangois  de  Paule  d' : 

announces  the  capture  of  the  Bastile 

to   the   assembly,   69 
Ostrach:  battle  of  (1799),  403 
Ott,    Charles,    Baron :    his    campaign    in 

Italy,  438 
Paine,   Thomas :    his   career    in   France, 

23s  note 
Palais  Royal :  description  of.  55  note 
Panis :  leader  of  the  commune,  203 
Paper  Money :  attempt  of  the  directory 

to  revive,  372 
Paris,  Treaties  of:   (1795),  347;   (1801), 

444 
Parthenopean    Republic:    proclaimed    at 

Naples.  402 
Parties :  state  of,  at  the  opening  of  the 

national    legislative    assembly,    153; 


524 


INDEX 


state  of,  at  the  death  of  Louis  XVI, 
240 

Pennsylvania,  State  of:  experiments 
with  a  single  legislative  house,  88 
note 

Peter  I,  Emperor  of  Russia:  growth  of 
Russia  under,  133 

Petion  de  Villeneuve,  Jerome:  elected 
member  of  the  states-general,  39; 
denounces  the  banquets  of  the 
guards,  94;  escorts  Louis  XVI  back 
to  Paris,  138;  suspended,  184;  at- 
tacked by  Robespierre  and  Marat, 
254;   death  of,  280 

Philippeaux,  Pierre :  denounces  the 
manner  in  which  the  Vendean  war 
had  been  carried  on,  286;  death  of, 
294 

Pichegru,.  Charles:  elected  president  of 
the  younger  council,  386;  arrested 
by  Augereau,  391 ;  conspiracy  of, 
455;  death  of,  455 

Piedmont:  termination  of  war  with, 
380;  united  to  France,  453 

Pilnitz,  Declaration  of,    (1791),   I43 

Plenipotentiaries,  The  French :  murdered 
near  Rastatt,  401 

Plesswitz,  Armistice  of,    (1813),  488 

Polotsk:  battle  of   (1812),  485 

Portugal :   invasion  of,  474 

Precy,  Francois  Perrin,  Count:  ap- 
pointed to  command  the  insurrec- 
tionists of  Lyons,  269 

Presburg,   Peace  of,    (1805),  415 

Priestly,  Dr. :  supports  suggestion  to 
exile  Louis  XVI  to  the  United 
States,  235  note 

Priests,  The  Dissentient:  banished,  395; 
allowed  to  conduct  their  worship 
on  taking  an  oath  of  obedience, 
446 

Protestants :  declared  eligible  for  all  civil 
and  military  offices,   115   note 

Provincial  List,  The,  433 

Prussia:  campaign  against,  470 

Puisaye,  Joseph,  Marquis  de :  his  con- 
duct in  the  Vendean  war,  350 

Pyramids,  Battle  of  the   (1798),  409 

Quesnay,  Frangois :   sketch  of,   14 

Quiberon:  descent  upon  by  the  English 
and  the  emigrants,  351 

Quinze-Vingts :  threaten  insurrections 
unless  the  king  is  dethroned,  189 


Regiment-du-roi :  revolt  of,  125 

Reichenbach,  Convention  of  (1790),  133 

Renaud,  Cecile :  her  suspicious  visit  to 
Robespierre's  house,  300;  her  ex- 
amination and  fate,  300 

Republican  Party:  first  appearance  of, 
139;  alarm  of,  at  the  increasing 
power  of  Bonaparte,  412;  proscrip- 
tion put  in  force  against,  432 

Revolution,  The  French :  see  French 
Revolution,    History    of 

Rewbel,  Jean  Frangois :  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  directory,  361 

Right,  The :  origin  and  use  of  the  term, 
82;  its  principal  speakers,  154 

Riot,  The  Bread,  93 

Robespierre,  Maximilien  Marie  Isidore: 
elected  member  of  the  states-general, 
39;  demands  that  the  fate  of  the 
king  be  left  with  the  people,  141 ;  op- 
poses war,  165 ;  animosity  of  the 
convention  towards,  218;  character 
of,  219;  again  accused  by  Louvet, 
222;  excuses  himself,  223;  attacks 
the  Girondists,  254;  attacks  the 
Hebertists,  284;  accused  of  modera- 
tion, 289;  his  speech  regarding  legal 
government,  290;  his  interview  with 
Danton,  290;  Cecile  Renaud's  visit 
to  his  house,  300;  his  power  and 
position,  300;  officiates  at  the  cele- 
bration of  the  new  religion,  301 ; 
appointed  president  of  the  conven- 
tion, 301;  his  speech  demanding  a 
renewal  of  the  committees,  308; 
violently  attacked  by  Billaud-Va- 
rennes,  310;  his  arrest,  314;  liberated 
and  taken  in  triumph  to  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  315;  his  death,  319 

Rochambeau,  Jean  Baptiste  Donatien  de 
Vimeure,  Count  of:  his  opinion  re- 
specting the  war  with  Holland  and 
Belgium,  173 

Roederer,  Pierre  Louis :  sent  for  by  the 
queen  and  questioned  as  to  the 
safety  of  the  king,  192 

Roland,  Marie-Jeanne  Phlipon :  con- 
demned  to   death,   280 

Roland  de  la  Platiere,  Jean  Marie : 
character  and  ministry  of,  169; 
anecdote  of  him  on  going  to  court. 


INDEX 


625 


170;  kills  himself  on  hearing  of  the 

death  of  his  wife,  280 
Rome:    riots    at,    399;    changed    into    a 

republic,  399 
Romme,    Gilbert :    appointed    the    organ 

of  the  insurrection  of  Germinal,  337 
Rouairie,    Count    de    la :    arrest    of,    for 

the  insurrection  of  La  Vendee,  248 
Royalist  Conspiracy,  379 
Royalist    Party,   The:    its   opposition   to 

the  reelection  of  two-thirds  of  the 

members    of    the    convention,    355 ; 

insurrection  of,  356 
Russia:  at  war  with  France,  484 


Saint  Jean  d'Acre:  siege  of  (1799),  409 

Saint-Just,  Antoine :  his  speech  on  the 
king's  inviolability,  230;  his  threat- 
ening speech  in  the  convention,  291 ; 
his  person  and  character,  299;  re- 
called from  the  army,  307 ;  arrested, 
314;  released,  315;  death  of,  318 

Saint-Leger :  conduct  and  reception  of, 
at  the  convention,  338 

Saint    Sebastian :    taken   by   the   French 

(179s),  347 
Saint  Vincent:  battle  of  (1793),  249  note 
Salles,  Jean  Baptiste :  death  of,  279 
Salm,  Club  of,  388 
San  Domingo    (Saint-Domingo)  :   revolt 

of,   160;   insurrection  in,  445 
Saragossa:  siege  of  (1808),  477 
Savenay:  battle  of  (1793),  248  note.  276 
Sections,    The:    reduction    in    tlie   meet- 
ings of,  323;  disperse  the  insurgents 
of  Germinal,  337 
Self-denying  Ordinance,  The  (1791),  145 

note 
Senators :  nomination  of,  436 
Scrgent :  leader  of  the  commune,  203 
Seze,   De :    delivers    the   defense   of   tiie 

king,  234 
Sieyes  (Sieyes),  Count  Emmanuel  Jo- 
seph :  his  pamphlet  on  the  third  es- 
tate, 38;  elected  mcml)er  of  the 
states-general,  39;  at  the  meeting  (if 
the  assembly  (1789),  ~:2:  sketch  of, 
83;  directs  tlie  Feuillant  Club.  128; 
demands  the  recall  of  tlie  proscribed 
conventionalists,    331 ;     replaced    by 


Carnot,  361 ;  elected  a  member  of 
the  directory,  361 ;  labors  to  establish 
legal  reform,  405 ;  attacks  the 
Jacobins,  408;  appointed  one  of  the 
consuls,  432 

Sillery:  death  of,  279 

Smolensk:  battle  of   (1812),  485 

Soinbreuil,  Charles  Virot  de :  pleads 
with  the  mob  at  the  Hotel  des  In- 
valides,  63 

Spain :  invasion  of,  474 

States-General :  establishment  of,  41 ; 
conduct  of,  on  the  departure  of  the 
king,  137;  commissions  Montmorin 
to  inform  the  European  powers  of 
their  pacific  intentions,  137;  orders 
arrest  of  anyone  leaving  the  king- 
dom, 138;  question  of  the  king's 
trial,  140;  closed  by  the  king,  146 

Steyer,  Armistice  of  (1800),  442 

Stockach:  battle  of   (1799),  403 

Suchet,  Louis  Gabriel :  joins  Napoleon 
after  his   return,   501 

Swiss  Regiment :  at  the  insurrection  of 
Nancy,  125  note 

Switzerland :  its  change  of  constitution, 
399 


Talleyrand-Perigord,  Charles  Maurice 
de,  Prince  of  Benevento :  elected 
member  of  the  states-general,  39; 
proposes  renunciation  of  church 
property  in  favor  of  the  nation,  109; 
takes  oath  of  loyalty  to  the  nation, 
113;  at  the  confederation  of  the 
kingdom,  122;  appointed  minister  of 
foreign  affairs.  436:  invested  with 
the  principality  of  Benevciito,  468; 
plans  restoration  of  the  Bourbons, 
498 

Tallien,  Jean  Lambert ;  leader  of  the 
commune,  203 ;  his  speech  denounc- 
ing the  triumvirate,  313;  proposes 
to  annul  the  third,  360;  exposed 
by  Thibaudeau,  360 

Target,  Jean  Baptiste :  elected  member 
of  the  states-general,  39 

Terror.  Reign  of.  265 

Thcophilanthropie :  attempt  of  La  R6- 
vclliere  to  establish  the  deistical 
religion  under  that  name.  ;i72 


526 


INDEX 


Theot,  Catherine:  made  use  of  by  com- 
mittees   against    Robespeirre,    305 

Thermidorian  Party:  composition  of, 
321;  replaces  the  democratic  mem- 
bers in  the  committee,  322;  attacks 
the  Jacobin   Ckib,  327 

Thibaudeau,  Count  Antoine  Claire  de: 
exposes  the  plan  for  annulling  the 
third,  360 

Thuriot  de  La  Rosiere :  at  the  siege  of 
the  Bastile,  63;  sketch  of,  66  note; 
demands  the  abolition  of  the  com- 
mission of  twelve,  258 

Terray,  Joseph-Marie,  Abbe:  controleur- 
general  of  finances,  12;  sketch  of, 
25  note 

Tilsit,  Peace  of,  (1807),  471 

Tithes:  abolition  of,  109 

Toulon:  capture  of,  275 

Trafalgar:    battle   of    (1805),   463 

Trebbia:  battle  of  (.1799),  403 

Treilhard :  deposed,  404 

Trianon  Decree  (1810),  473 

Tribunes :  nomination  of,  436 

Triumvirate,  The  Democratic :  principles 
and  effects  of  the,  297;  general  at- 
tack upon,  311;  arrest  of,  314;  re- 
leased, 315;  death  of,  318 

Turgot,  Anne  Robert  Jacques,  Baron  de 
I'Aulne :  sketch  of,  14,  26 

Tuileries,  The :  deserted  by  the  king, 
195 ;  attack  of,  on  the  loth  of  Au- 
gust, 196;  blockade  of,  260 

Twelve,  The  Commission  of:  See  Com- 
mission of  Twelve 


U,V 

Ulm:  battle  of  (1805),  464 

Vadier,    Marc    Guillaume:    arrest    and 

trial  of,  333 
Valaze,  Charles  Dufriche :  death  of,  279 
Valenciennes :  taken  by  the  allied  powers, 

271 
Valmy:  battle  of   (1792),  210 
Varennes :  see  Billaud 
Vaublanc:  leads  deputation  to  the  king, 

162 
Vauchamps:  battle  of  (1814),  491 


Vendee,  La:  insurrection  of,  248;  pacifi- 
cation of,  374 

Verdun:  siege  of,   (1792),  205 

Vergniaud,  Pierre  Victurnien:  his  pic- 
ture of  the  peril  in  which  the  country 
stood  in  the  middle  of  1792,  182;  at- 
tacked by  Robespierre  and  Marat, 
254;  accuses  the  Girondists  of  con- 
spiring with  Dumouriez,  260;  death 
of,  279 

Vermont,  State  of:  experiments  with  a 
single  legislative  house,  88  note 

Verona:  battle  of  (1799),  403 

Vienna:  taking  of  (1805),  464;  Peace  of 
(1809),  396 

Vigee:  death  of,  279 

Vincennes,  Chateau  of :  attacked  by  mob, 
129 

Virieu,  Count  de:  pleads  for  the  con- 
stitution, 59;  proposes  abolition  of 
law   protecting   doves   and    pigeons, 

Virieux,  Marquis  de :  appointed  with 
Precy  to  command  the  insurrection- 
ists at  Lyons,  269 

Voltaire  (Frangois  Marie  Arouet)  :  an- 
ticipates the  French  Revolution,  12; 
sketch  of,  13 


W,  X,  Y,  Z 

Wagram:  battle  of   (1809),  480 
Waterloo:  battle  of  (1815),  501 
Wattignies:  battle  of  (1793),  277 
Weissenburg :  battle  of   (1795),  345 
Wellington,     Arthur     Wellesley,     Duke 
of:    takes    possession    of    Portugal, 
477;  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  501 
Wertingen:  battle  of   (1805),  464 
Westphalia:  given  to  Jerome  Napoleon, 

471 
Westphalia,  Treaty  of   (1648),   135  note 
Witepsk:  battle  of   (1812),  485 
Wurtemberg:    erected    into    a   kingdom, 

466 
York,    Frederick    Augustus,    Duke    of: 

disembarks     in     Holland     with     an 

Anglo-Russian  army,  403 
Zip:  battle  of  the  (1799),  403 
Zurich:  battle  of  (1799),  407 


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